More than five months after bird flu hit Navapur taluka in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district, poultry farmers whose birds were culled are still waiting for a third of their compensation, with the state writing to the Centre at least thrice since the end of May seeking the remaining funds.

The outbreak, reported on April 30, led to the culling of 4,13,682 layer birds, the destruction of 24,91,723 eggs and the disposal of 5,48,958 kg of poultry feed. A September 9 communication from the district animal husbandry department puts the district’s compensation claim at Rs 9,80,11,586, covering birds, eggs, feed and operational expenses.

Two-thirds paid, one-third pending

The first tranche of Rs 6.73 crore, split evenly between the Centre and the state, was approved on September 1 and reached farmers’ bank accounts by the end of September. The rest is still pending, and the state animal husbandry department has taken the matter up with the Centre in meetings.

Compensation is paid under the centrally sponsored Assistance to States for Control of Animal Diseases scheme, with the Centre and the state each bearing half. State animal husbandry commissioner Dr Kiran Patil said the state could not release its share until the Centre’s arrived, even if it had the money, adding that it would be sorted out in October.

State animal husbandry secretary Dr Ramaswami N said the Centre issued an order on August 14 releasing Rs 3.3672 crore as its share, and Maharashtra released a matching amount, making Rs 6.7344 crore available. There was no clarity yet on when the remaining funds would be released by the central government. He added that the department could not budget the full amount in advance, keeping only a token provision since it could not predict whether a major outbreak would occur.

Backyard birds left out

The fund shortage also led officials to call off the culling of nearly 10,000 backyard birds in villages around the affected farms. These birds had not tested positive, but the containment protocol required susceptible birds in the notified area to be culled. Their owners demanded to be paid on the spot before handing them over, and the department had no money to pay them.

Even full payment leaves farmers short, they say. Under current norms, commercial poultry farmers get Rs 140 per adult layer bird, Rs 4 per destroyed egg and Rs 25 per kg of disposed feed. Navapur Poultry Association president Arief Balesaria has said it costs around Rs 500 to raise a layer bird until it starts laying.

Navapur is one of western India’s major egg-producing centres, supplying nearly 10 lakh eggs a day to Mumbai, Jalgaon, Nashik and Surat in Gujarat. The area had more than 70 poultry farms at its peak; around 38 remain after earlier outbreaks in 2006 and 2021, which saw lakhs of birds culled. Seven farms shut after 2021 because they could not recover. Farmers have sought higher compensation and payment at the time of culling, and have slowly started buying chicks to rebuild.