Doulatpur duck farm beset with multifarious problems

JHENIDAH, Jan 17: Regional Duck Breeding Farm (RDBF) at Doulatpur in Khulna is suffering from poor infrastructure, manpower shortage and fund crisis causing hazards to smooth running of the centre.
At present, manpower is not employed according to the organ chart. Out of a total of 21, only 12, including officers and employees are working here.
A district-level officer is working while of two more posts of them are lying vacant. The posts of a poultry technician and two duck attendants are falling vacant too.
There is no night guard and sweeper in the farm. There is also no peon in the regional duck rearing farm. Due to lack of security, different kinds of theft are committed frequently.
No renovation work in the RDBF has been conducted since its starting activities in FY 1989-90.
Out of six setters, three are serviceable. However, the working ones may be spoiled any time as they have also become very old. The chilling machine to cool the incubators remains out of order for long.
Netting system has been suffered severely damaged. Squirrels, jackals,   crows, dogs, cougars and some other nocturnal animals enter the farms inviting migratory diseases and as a result, birds are affected with bacterial and viral diseases. The growth of the chicks is stranded.
All the underground water supply lines have been damaged after getting rust, and they let water trickle out. So birds are affected with germs carried by the water.
Floors of the sheds have completely gotten damaged. They need to be cemented. The age-old roofs of the sheds have become dilapidated. Because of those being leaky, water falls from the roofs on the floors.
Litter management is difficult as they have turned rotten and unusable. They pose health hazards creating disease vectors like fungus and mold. As a result, they cannot grow adult birds properly. So it is quite impossible to bring it under a good management.
The electric wires have become risky because of their being old and fatal accidents may occur any time killing the birds in hatchers.
Office building, sheds, hatchery building, boundary walls, residential houses, and food godown have become dilapidated.
Training for officers and employees has not been arranged for ages.
While contacted, Assistant Director Samir Kumar Roy told this correspondent that the objectives of the government to establish the farm would be fulfilled to a great extent if the problem of manpower shortage and poor infrastructure is addressed, and fund is increased.