As scheduled, culling of poultry began at Kacharu village in Kuanrmunda block on the outskirts of Rourkela in Sundargarh district on Sunday morning after blood samples tested positive for H5N1 (bird flu) virus.
However, district administration officials had to face opposition from people from the Chatakatola slum. The protesting villagers demanded culling to begin from poultry farms.
According to reports, nearly 11, 000 fowls would be killed by the administration within one-km radius from the affected village to prevent the spread of the avian influenza. For this, five teams have been formed.
Notably, some birds had been found dropped dead at the Indira Gandhi (IG) Park of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and carcasses of several crows were found around the CISF campus near Bisra Square in December last.
While the IG Park was closed for visitors, an alert was sounded around one km from the two areas.