Drive against pigs costs govt R 7 lakh

SNS, Siliguri, 3 August 2014: In the wake of the encephalitis outbreak in the region, the ‘cash strapped’ state government has spent between Rs 4-Rs 7 lakh for merely capturing pigs in the Siliguri sub-division and relocating them away from human settlement.

During a drive against piggeries in the area, the animal resource development (ARD) department captured 122 pigs in the sub-division and sent them to a farm at Ramsai in Mainaguri in Jalpaiguri district. Pigs from different areas of Siliguri subdivision, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts had been brought to the farm following the  drive to wind up piggeries to check the spread of Japanese Encephalitis. Pigs are considered as the natural reservoirs of the Japanese Encephalitis virus.

The department had started counting the pigs on 23 July and captured 122 pigs within 30 July. "We started the process through a survey from 23 July, and we identified 120 pigs, and accordingly, our department captured 122 pigs from nine areas in the sub-division," said ARD sources."We have spent between Rs 4-Rs 7 lakh for the entire process, including compensation to pig owners, vehicle charges, charges for labourers, and video recordings. We spent for the weighing machines and tags for their identification," the sources added.

The ARD paid the pig owners Rs 100 per kg as per the government rate, while it caught pig for a maximum weight of 120 kg. An ARD official said they have recorded the entire process from capturing the pigs, to lifting them on to the lorries, taking them down from the lorries and tagging at the Ramsai farm. "We tagged the animals for identification. Our department did not have the dearth of funds for the drive because we received additional funds from ‘special funds,’" the official said.

A maximum of 70 pigs were captured in the Matigara block, while 43 were picked up from Naxalbari and another nine from Phansidewa. The ARD deputy director, Siliguri, Dr Milan Haldar, said the drive was conducted as per government rules. "We had started the drive through the headcount on 23 July," he said.