Fri,Feb.08,2008
Student E-zine of the ACJ

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With reports of bird flu hitting Chennai, there are no takers for chicken in the city Photo: James Hardy/Digantik

BY James Hardy


Chennai:Chicken sales in the city have fallen by as much as 10 per cent because of the bird flu epidemic in West Bengal.
Bird flu is still a long way from Chennai but that has not prevented people from taking precautions.

Kanakalakshmi, a housewife from Guindy said that her family has stopped buying chicken for two months now. “The reports of bird flu and the memory of the last outbreak have made us more cautious. We do not want to take any chances,” she added. Her sentiments are echoed by Vaishnavi, who said, “One should not take any chances with the bird flu. In 2005 we saw how rapidly it spread from state to state. It is better to be safe than sorry.”

This is the attitude that saddens poultry sellers. They argue that people are being paranoid. Abdul Karim, owner of ‘Best Chicken Stall” in Aminjikarai, said that fear of the disease was keeping people from eating chicken. “In fact there has been a sharp decline in the demand for chicken once reports of the bird flu broke out. In a rough estimate there has been a 10 per cent fall in sales. What people do not understand is that there is no trace of any bird flu anywhere in the south. What happens in the north stays there,” he emphasised.

However, the prices of broiler chicken have touched almost Rs 70 per kilo contrary to the last time bird flu hit Chennai, when prices of chicken dropped drastically.

Corporation Deputy Commissioner for Health, Dr. R. Ananda Kumar reiterated the fact that there was no need for the people to worry. “We are taking all the steps needed to make sure that the people do not face any problems. Towards the end of this month we are planning to organise a camp to warn people of the dangers of bird flu. We are going to distribute flyers and pamphlets to people in the coming weeks,” he revealed.

However the humble chicken has still some faithful followers. . Roschelle, a technical writer with Cognizant Technologies said, “One can’t stop eating chicken just because bird flu struck West Bengal. If we go by that standard then we should stop eating everything because there are problems with every food in some part of the world or the other.” He hoped that the price of chicken would fall drastically like last year.