Mumbai Civic Body Issues Guidelines To Tackle Bird Flu

With samples of two crows from Mumbai testing positive for bird flu, the Mumbai civic body on Monday issued a set of guidelines on reporting the death of birds and safe disposal of their remains.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also appealed to citizens to contact its helpline 1916, if they notice the death of birds.

According to the Bhopal-based ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), two crows from Mumbai have died due to bird flu, an official said earlier in the day.

The civic body has directed the disaster control department to immediately report to on duty assistant engineers of the solid waste management in concerned assistant municipal commissioner's office or to the war-level war rooms.

"The workers and helpers from the regional office and under assistant engineer will dispose the dead birds as per the laid down guidelines," the guidelines said.

The civic body also directed assistant engineers to bring the deaths of birds to the notice of the state-appointed rapid response teams and dispose the dead birds as per their instructions.

As per the directives under ''Avain influenza action plan to control and prevent revised guidelines 2021'', the dead birds have to be disposed off by burying them in a pit, the BMC said.

"Also it's necessary to use an adequate amount of limestone to bury them and ensure that other animals do not dig it again," the civic body said.

The BMC also asked Veer Jijamata Udyan in Byculla in south Mumbai to follow the guidelines issued by the Central Zoo Authority about bird flu.

Besides asking the concerned department to carry out awareness campaigns about bird flu, the civic body also asked the assistant commissioner (market) to create a plan about cleanliness of chicken and mutton shops.