Badal rules out bird flu in Punjab village

Chandigarh, Mar 11 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today assured the Vidhan Sabha that the death of around 3000 birds in a poultry farm in Bathinda district were not due to bird flu.

"There is no concern for any worry as bird flu has not been detected in the village", he said while giving an assurance to the House after Sunil Jakhar made a reference to the mass death of poultry birds in Bathinda district during zero hour in the assembly.

He said that a team of veterinary doctors had already been sent to the village to check out on the deaths and preliminary reports suggested that it was not bird flu. The detailed report will be known after the laboratory anaylsis of the samples of the dead birds.

The Chief Minister said that due compensation would be paid to the owners of the poultry farm for the loss suffered.

Gurbachan Singh Babehali (SAD) raised the issue on non-lifting of sugarcane damaged or affected by the ground frost and cold weather conditions during the winters by the private mills.

Assuring the member that the cane growers would not be allowed to suffer, Cooperatives Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh said that instructions had been sent out to the private millers to abide by the bonds (specifying sugarcane quantity) that they had filled with the cane growers. The cooperative sugarmills are however even lifting the damaged sugarcane, he added.

During zero hour, Kewal Dhillon (Cong) raised the issue of cancer deaths caused due to the poor quality of groundwater in the Malwa belt. Refering to reports in the media, he claimed that 32 persons had died this year in the Malwa belt due to cancer.

Public Health Minister Bikram Majithia while replying to Mr Dhillon said that the cancer deaths were not due to drinking water supplied by the tubewells of the public health department. The Minister claimed that samples of water taken from these tubewells had been tested by a Delhi based firm and the water was found fit for human consumption.

UNI HS JS1811