BHOPAL SHRUGS OFF BIRD FLU SCARE
The bird flu scare may have put people off chicken in other places, but not in Bhopal, whose residents, according to the local newspaper, “continue to relish on their favourite chicken dishes”.
With poultry prices plummeting as a result of the scare, Bhopalis, especially in the old quarters of the city, are feasting on chicken.

The sign says “We sell at farm prices, not shop prices”
“No doubt, the sale of chickens has gone down drastically in the upmarket areas of the city, but in other areas, it has increased manifold,” said poultry merchant Hilal Jafri.
To date, no case bird flu has come to light in Madhya Pradesh. But as cases of bird flu continue to be detected in neighbouring Maharashtra, Bhopal has shot to limelight as it houses the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), the only laboratory in Asia that can detect the new H5N1 virus that causes bird flu.
But Bhopal residents have no issues with the rogue parcel of DNA, as it has brought down chicken prices.
“The government is saying that chicken, if cooked properly, can be eaten. So why should not I eat chicken?” asks Ikran Ali, who has duly been scoffing chicken daily.
Ali, who lives in the Budhwara locality of the old city claims that chicken is now cheaper than vegetables. “A kilogram of bhindi (okra) costs Rs 40, whereas a kilogramme of chicken costs only Rs 20.”

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