10 more ducks die in Deer Park Lake

Ten more ducks died in Deer Park Lake complex on Sunday even as multi-vitamins and garlic were being fed to birds and ducks to improve their immunity.

Seventeen ducks were found dead in the lake a day earlier.

Development Minister Gopal Rai, who reviewed the preventive measures, said the situation in the lake area was a matter of “concern”.

The minister constituted a 10-member squad for spraying Mycrodacyn spray on all the birds in the Deer Park Lake complex as a preventive step against the H5 avian influenza which, so far, is being considered as non-harmful to humans, a statement said.

With the latest deaths in the lake complex, the avian deaths in the national capital climbed to over 50.

Rai said a sample of the lake’s water has been sent to a Bhopal lab for examination.

“A meeting of the coordination committee has also been called at Delhi Secretariat on Monday,” said an aide of the minister.

The lake complex is maintained by the DDA and its officials have been advised to bury deep the carcasses of dead birds, said the statement.

Along with disinfection process at the Deer Park Lake, steps are also being taken at the  zoo and Ghazipur poultry market, said the statement.

The city government on Saturday widened its scan ambit by collecting samples from the Ghazipur market, which has not yet been hit by the flu.

One dead bird’s sample collected from the Hauz Khas park was sent to lab, eight samples were drawn from the Ghazipur poultry market from live birds. Seven carcasses of birds collected from across Delhi were sent separately, the statement said.