Five places in West Bengal have been chosen for the USAID South Asia Cross Borders Project under which people in the border areas will be made aware of the bird flu virus through theatre and different forms of art.

“With a fund of Rs 50 lakh, the project is expected to kick off before August 15 and will include awareness campaigning through community theatre about bird flu,” said Suneel Muttoo, country coordinator of the project.

“The theatre group Banglapatahk.com will train locals in these areas who in turn will spread knowledge through art,” Muttoo added.

A total of seven places have been chosen for the project, of which five are in West Bengal bordering Bangladesh. (See Box)

Bird flu had hit Bengal last year with 15 districts, covering around 8,000 sq km, being directly affected by it. In the second phase, nine blocks covering four districts were affected by H5N1 virus.

“Most of those who are dealing with poultry farming are illiterate. Even women constitute a vast chunk of labourers involved in this profession. During the first and second outbreak of bird flu in Bengal we saw there were problems of lack of communication, information and veterinary experts,” said Dhruba Chakraborty of Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals.

The project is expected to make people take precaution and help reduce the possibility of an outbreak.

With swine flu caused by H1N1 virus being declared as pandemic, efforts are on to launch similar awareness programme in the country.

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