Bam Dev Gautam blames Indian imports for bird flu

Vice-chairman Gautam has claimed that fowls brought from India are responsible for the bird-flu epidemic in Nepal.

Speaking at an event on Thursday, Bam Dev Gautam, the chairman of the party's All Nepal Peasant's Association, said that lifting the dumping charge on Indian agriculture products was the main reason for the spread. "The chicken of the KFC seized in Dhading was laced with bird-flu,' said Bam Dev Gautam.

Poultry farmers in Dhading had taken two containers of processed chicken under control at Dharke on December 15 last year. The two vehicles with Indian registration delivering chicken for the restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Capital were seized by local farmers.

Bam Dev Gautam also said many chickens infected with bird-flu were being sold in the market. In a statement, the All Nepal Peasant's Association demanded that the dumping of the dead chickens should be done scientifically, affected farmers be compensated and those selling infected fowls booked.