Bird flu PIL: High Court issues notice to two NGOs

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday issued a notice to two NGOs on a PIL seeking action against those responsible for the outbreak of bird flu in the city’s Memnagar locality, while directing the state government and the city civic body to file an affidavit on the matter on Friday.
A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi issued notices to NGOs Sarva Dharma Rakshak Seva Trust and Asha Foundation after the PIL questioned the authority of these NGOs to transport affected birds from Mumbai, and the culling and burying of around 157 H5N1-affected birds in Memnagar area.
The court tagged this PIL with another filed on the same issue on Tuesday, and scheduled the matter for further hearing on Friday.
The PIL, filed by advocate Kiran Shah who is a resident of Memnagar, questioned the laxity of the district administration and said that World Health Organization guidelines have not been followed in preventing the outbreak. The petitioner submitted that over 1,400 birds were brought from Mumbai by Asha Foundation and kept at its facility in Hathijan.
From here, some birds were shifted to a temporary facility put up by Sarva Dharma Trust without proper licensing and authority, though authorities suspected an outbreak of bird flu on January 2. The notification issued by the police commissioner preventing traffic and public movement in affected area was not sufficiently publicized and implemented.
The PIL has sought identification of persons responsible for bringing affected birds to the locality and action against them by way of penalty for causing hardship to local residents. It also sought the court’s direction to the government to frame rules on transportation of birds through licence and permit. The petitioner has even objected to frequent fogging in the area.
In the afternoon, the issue was raised once again before the HC when advocate Shah highlighted that digging was underway in a public park where the birds were culled and buried.
The HC called advocates of the state government and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The government informed the court that 64 birds were culled after authorities found them in captivity in the vicinity.