Naseema and Devdas make a living largely by selling ducks and their eggs in Kerala's Alappuzha. They say they have 67 ducks, but cannot sell them due to restrictions after confirmed cases of avian influenza. They are among the many roadside outlets dependent on these sales, on the way to Alappuzha town.
"We can't sell these 67 ducks for now, but we use around 10 kg of rice per day to feed them. Each kilogram costs us Rs 15, at a time when our income has all gone. Our ducks are healthy. People are scared to buy," says Devdas, who still has some duck eggs on sale. "If someone buys these eggs, let them buy. We are not farmers, we are sellers. So we don't get any compensation for loss," he says.
"We have taken a loan to run these small businesses. Every day we pay Rs 120 to the private lender, whether we get income or nor. It's not easy during these times when we can't sell ducks," says Naseema.
In four panchayats of Alappuzha, over 40,000 poultry - mostly ducks - have been killed in the last two days. Alappuzha, famous for its backwaters and houseboats, is well-known for duck rearing, which in turn is linked to several other businesses, small- and medium-scale as well.
Some 6,000 ducks are expected to be killed in one panchayat today in Alappuzha.
The affected panchayat areas have tragic scenes of funeral pyres for thousands of ducks, killed to contain the spread, and farmers incurring huge losses. Susie Babu lost 1,500 ducks within a span of one-and-a-half weeks. "First one duck fell dead, next day 50 and the day after 100. Within a span of one week or so, 1,500 of my ducks dropped dead. The rest are being killed," says Susie.
"The spread is localised and contained to the four panchayats in Alappuzha. The situation is under control. Movement of poultry is restricted in these affected taluks… But otherwise, we are encouraging people to eat whatever poultry they want to eat, but cook it well," District Collector A Alexander told NDTV, as a central delegation reached to review the situation with him and other senior district officials today.
It was on Monday that laboratory results confirmed H5N8 strain of avian influenza in parts of Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. Culling of birds within 1 km radius of the affected areas began by Tuesday.
The District Collectors say the situation is under control. The state government has announced compensation for affected poultry farmers - from Rs 100 to Rs 200 for each bird.
