After bird flu broke out in certain parts of Kerala, the Tamil Nadu government said on Wednesday that there was no impact of the disease in the State. As a measure of precaution, it decided to halt the entry of poultry and poultry-related feed from the neighbouring State.
The decision was taken at a meeting Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam had with senior Ministers and officials at the Secretariat here on Wednesday.
An official says that though poultry products usually went to Kerala from Tamil Nadu, the decision was taken to restrict the entry of any product from Kerala as a precautionary measure.
“We are establishing checkpoints where any such product will be tested and disinfectants will also be applied to it before being sent back,” he says.
The Commissioners of Commercial Taxes and Transport, along with the Director of Animal Husbandry, will work together to make sure that vehicles carrying poultry products from Kerala are returned at the checkpoints.
Eight hundred response teams will be formed to monitor the overall situation. A control room will work round the clock at the Central Research Laboratory, Saidapet. (044-24339097, 9445032504).
The movement of migratory birds in bird sanctuaries will be observed by the Chief Wildlife Garden. Southern Railway will be requested to stop the movement of poultry and poultry-related feed by train and sanitise the bogies of the trains coming to Tamil Nadu from Kerala, says an official release.