Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination anniversary programme will not be held at Shakti Sthal this year as it is closed in view of bird flu scare, the Congress said in a statement.

Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary is observed on October 31, 2016.

“Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s martyrdom day programme on October 31 will not be held at Shakti Sthal this year as it has been closed due to bird flu,” said the statement.

On Friday, two birds died at the District Park in Paschim Vihar and another bird died at the lake near Shakti Sthal, taking the total count of dead birds to over 75 so far.

Delhi Animal Husbandry Minister Gopal Rai visited the memorial where he met officials before a decision was taken to shut down the site as a precautionary measure till the lab reports come back.

The site had reported two bird deaths earlier.

The Minister told officials to arrange for boats to spray anti-virus medicine in the lake. Mr. Rai added that he has urged the Centre to direct all its departments to spread ‘chuna’ (lime powder) around every water body besides spraying Sodium Hypochlorite, a disinfectant, in areas where birds gather.

Mr. Rai added that since the Delhi Zoo, the Deer Park and Shakti Sthal come under the jurisdiction of central agencies they should issue precautionary measures.

Mr. Rai later met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and urged him to direct the Centre-run labs in Jalandhar and Bhopal to expedite the test reports so that the city government can take preventive steps.

“Since October 19, the Delhi government has sent over 80 samples of dead birds to labs in Jalandhar and Bhopal. We have got back only 27 samples till now,” the Minister said. Mr. Rai also requested Mr. Singh to issue a health advisory. On Monday the AAP government had issued an 11-point advisory asking people not to eat half-cooked chicken and eggs.

Mr. Rai said that Mr. Singh has called a meeting on October 27 to take stock of the situation. A team of National Institute of Virology collected samples from Delhi Zoo on Monday to ascertain the reason behind the deaths.

The 12-member team formed by the Delhi government will be trained on Wednesday on how to deal with bird flu. The Delhi Zoo and Hauz Khas Deer Park are still closed although no new report of death have been reported in either place.

{from media sources]

  bird flu, environment, health, Indira Gandhi