Vulture safety: DCA to hold awareness meet on banned drugs in Coonoor
CHENNAI: Following a crackdown on veterinary pharmacies for stocking banned non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), the Tamil Nadu Drug Control Administration (DCA) will hold an awareness meet in Coonoor on May 24. Pharmacies in Ooty, Kothagiri, Mettupalayam and Coonoor have been invited to attend the session, which will highlight the ill-effects of NSAIDs on vultures and explain the reasons behind the ban.
The move comes after inspections revealed that several outlets were illegally selling Nimesulide and Diclofenac, both of which are linked to the sharp decline in vulture population. 'Licences of two pharmacies were cancelled, and five were suspended. Inquiries are ongoing against five others,' DCA director MN Sridhar told TNIE. The DCA has already initiated action against pharmacies for sale of Diclofenac, a veterinary drug linked to a 97% vulture population crash in India since the 1990s. 'The enforcement has yielded 104 convictions,' he added.
The awareness meet is being organised in collaboration with vulture conservation NGO Arulagam. Its co-founder S Bharathidasan said the team visited 43 pharmacies in vulture habitats. Of these, 11 admitted NSAIDs are out of stock but offered to arrange the drugs within a week.
Eight had NSAIDs in stock. 'One pharmacy offered a 10% margin on the MRP to the buyer. Twenty two outlets stocked veterinary ointments and sprays but did not carry injectable or bolus medications for cattle, Bharathidasan said.
According to the recent synchronised vulture survey, the vulture population in Tamil Nadu and the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) has risen from 320 to 390.
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