Tanahun people say nay to chicken, eggs

Tanahun, February 26:

Close on the heels of the outbreak of bird flu in Maharastra state of India, Nepal has become wary of letting in chicken and chicken products.

Import of chicken products has dropped by 90 percent in Tanahun. Decrease in the sale of chicken products is having an adverse effect on entrepreneurs. “Consumers of chicken are now turning to mutton, pork and buffalo meat,” Om Prakash Karki, the proprietor of Damauli Fresh House said.

Chicken dealer Rajendra Shahi said customers have stopped buying local chickens after the rumours of bird flu. Shahi used to sell 100 kilogrammes of chicken meat everyday before the newsflash about bird flu in India.

Now, he is finding it difficult to sell even half a kg of chicken meat while he manages to sell the meat of three goats everyday. Entrepreneurs in Damauli are still importing chickens from India as well as from markets in Chitwan, and Gorkha. “Chicken meat prices are the same despite the increasing number of consumers of mutton, buffalo and pork,” officials of the Meat Entrepreneurs’ Association (Tanahun) said.

Sources, however, said that people have stopped buying chicken although the price has dropped to Rs 50 from Rs 85 per kg.

Residents were left gnashing their teeth after the stink of dead chickens polluted the

environment in Chirkane Bazaar area of Gansi Kuwa VDC when a truck dumped three sacks of dead chickens imported from Chitwan, said Saraswati Karki, a local.

Locals in Lower Chirkane said the cause of death of fifty chickens, of a total of 200 chickens in a poultry farm, has not been determined yet.

According to data collected two months back, there was sale of 15030 kg of buffalo meat, 4710 kg of mutton, 13102 kg of chicken, 7770 kilogram of pork, 436 kg of fish and 81000 eggs in Byas municipality per month, the Tanahun district livestock office said. “The Livestock Checking and Slaughter House Act – 2055 and Livestock Checking and Slaughterhouse Regulation — 2056 have not been implemented yet in Tanahun,” said Rewatraj Shah, livestock technician of the office.

Tanahun has sounded a high alert after the spread of the news of bird flu. Chief District Officer Tek Birgunj Rayamajhi said.