The State government has stepped in to permit the transportation of not only poultry products, meat and fish, but also the movement of vehicles carrying bird feed, whose hindrance had led to chicken facing the prospect of starving to death in poultry farms across the State.
Ever since the lockdown was declared earlier this week, the supply of critical ingredients of chicken feed such as soya and maize had been stopped. In poultry farms, where the existing stock was exhausted, birds had begun to die. Knocking on the doors of the government, the Karnataka Poultry Farmers’ and Breeders’ Association (KPFBA) said several crores of birds in the State will perish if steps are not taken immediately to restore supply of chicken feed.
Even though animal husbandry is exempted from the restrictions imposed in the light of COVID-19 spread and animal husbandry had been classified as an essential service, the local police was creating roadblocks in movement of vehicles carrying either chicken and eggs or chicken feed, crucial for rearing both broilers and layer chicken, the Association said.
Poultry farms in Karnataka source soya from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh while maize grown in different parts of the State is transported to the poultry farms. “Even if they cross the State’s borders, the vehicles are stopped at toll gates by the local police. In a few places, village panchayat representatives are not allowing the vehicles to enter the villages”, said a representative of KPFBA.
District and taluk administration officials too were coming the way of transporting the huge stockpile of chicken and eggs from the poultry farms to the retail stores in different parts of the State.
Circular issued
After a meeting with State government’s Development Commissioner Vandita Sharma, Food Commissioner Ashok Kumar and senior officials of Animal Husbandry Department in Bengaluru on Thursday, where the representatives of KPFBA accused the police and local administration of forcing the closure of shops selling chicken and eggs, the Secretary to the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department issued a circular on Friday asking the authorities to permit the transportation of chicken, sheep, goat, pig, fish etc.
The circular addressed to all City Police Commissioners, BBMP Commissioner, all Deputy Commissioners, Chief Executive Officers of Zilla Panchayats, Superintendents of Police and other officials concerned has sought to make it clear that the authorities should not only permit the rearing of chicken, sheep, goat, pig and fish in the farms, but also their transportation, besides allowing the transportation of chicken feed to save the crores of chicken in the poultry farms across the State.
