Bird flu scare: Owner ‘caged’ in poultry farm in Bhandara for 14 days sans power

NAGPUR: Dhananjay Bhusari is desperately waiting for the next 10 days to pass. His poultry farm in Palandur village of Bhandara has been sealed after death of 300 birds, and he has been ordered to be in ‘quarantine’ there for 14 days. The farm is on a secluded plot, over 4km away from his home, says Dhananjay.
Dhananjay’s farm of over 300 birds was the third case of unusual mortality of poultry livestock in the region.The samples have been sent to the western regional disease diagnostic laboratory at Pune, from where they may further to go the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal, for more tests, if needed.
Till the results come in, Dhananjay will have to stay at the poultry farm in Lakhni tehsil of Bhandara district. There were no deaths at his farm on Thursday. In the village, even his family of six have been confined to home and fields, he says.
Cases of poultry deaths have been reported at other farms at Nagpur, Yavatmal, Akola, Gondia and Amravati in Vidarbha. Yet, Bhusari remains the only owner who has been quarantined along with his family in the region.
Officials in animal husbandry department say taking basic precautions is enough for humans. However, district administration officials at Lakhni said there were collector’s orders on these lines to prevent further infection to humans.
“They have sealed the farm, and I am here all alone since last three days and have to spend 10 more days. I haven’t seen my brother and parents, who have been confined to their homes in the village. There is no electricity at the farm and I have to manage with batteries,” Dhananjay told TOI.
Dhananjay said his family manages to send food once a day through some of the neighbours who have farms close by. “They keep the box outside the door at home and one of the neighbours, who owns fields near my poultry farm, comes and delivers it outside my gate.”
The authorities have also barred vehicles delivering bird feed to the farm. “I have got stock to last for 2-3 days and still around 200 birds are alive,” he said. “The scare has led to even markets shutting down in the area,” he said.
Dhananjay built the poultry farm this year using his father’s retirement funds, hoping that it would supplement the farm income. This year the paddy yield was down to a quarter of last season, he says.
At Lingti village of Yavatmal, Pravin Raut is a free man, however, deaths continue at his farm. In last four days over 900 of the 2,700 birds have died, he said. Even Raut had started the farm less than a year ago hoping to supplement income from his three acres of holding. “The crop has been bad this year and now I am staring at losses of more than a couple of lakhs due to the poultry deaths. Hope the government compensates poultry farmers,” he says.