Friday, March 17 2006 12:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Blaming the media for blowing out of proporation a localised event, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today(Mar 17, 2006) said the bird flu situation is under control and there is nothing to panic about on a nationwide scale.

"The media has blown a localised event out of proportion without realising that such exaggeration of facts would impact the rural economy," Pawar told reporters at the sidelines of the World Consumer Rights Day celebration here.

There is nothing to worry, he said, adding "The situation is completely under control".

The culling operations are on at the affected villages of Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, he added.

Pawar also said the culling operations are being carried out according to the existing international norms.

"There is no question of violating international norms on culling," he added.

A total of 17,150 birds were culled in four talukas of Jalgaon district till yesterday.

There are no reports of any human case so far, officials said.

The state governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already stepped up surveillance mechanism against bird flu.