KATHMANDU, Fab. 2 (Xinhua) -- Around 60,000 people employed directly and indirectly in poultry business in Chitwan are at risk of loosing their job after the rumors about bird flu were heard in Jhapa in eastern Nepal.

    The Kathmandu Post report said Monday that if the situation is not taken under control then the consequences may worsen and more people might be unemployed.

    According to the Association of Commerce and Industry, there are around 6,000 people who are directly related to this business whereas 60,000 people are indirectly related to the business.

    The decrease in chicken sales could also hamper the related medicine, grain and raw material business as well. According to a local entrepreneur, Til Chandra Bhattrai, the entrepreneurs will be hit hard if the situation is not controlled within 2 weeks.

    According to entrepreneurs, around 3.5-4 million Nepali rupees (some 45,454-51,948 U.S. dollars) worth of chicken, eggs are imported into Chitwan on a daily basis. Chitwan poultry holds 38 percent of the GDP in the district. The poultry business is one of the pioneers in the district as well.

    President of the Commerce and Industry Association Mitra Raj Dwadi said that the poultry business is earning for the other businesses and if it goes down, the whole economy of the district will be hampered.

    The poultry industry in Chitwan, some 200 km southwest of Kathmandu, has a total investment of 8 billion rupees (some 103.8 million dollars) which is contributed by banking and private sector whereas the whole poultry industry in the country has a total investment of 12 billion rupees (some 155.8 million U.S. dollars).