Fish sales soar in Molkalmuru villages due to bird flu fears

CHITRADURGA: With the fear of bird flu, non-vegetarians are shunning chicken meat and instead opting for fish. After the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at Varadahalli village in Chikkaballapur taluk and the subsequent culling of birds taken up, the Animal Husbandry department came out with guidelines on consumption of chicken meat.

In many of the villages in Molkalmuru taluk, sale of sea food, mostly fish, has increased drastically and traders are bringing fish from neighbouring Rayadurgam in Andhra Pradesh. Traders, who were earlier bringing fish for sale on two-wheelers and bicycles, are now hiring goods vehicles to bring fish to the villages.

According to the traders, over the last three days, they have sold anywhere between 150 and 200 kg of fish every day. Meat lovers are queuing up to buy fish while the demand for chicken had drastically dropped.