NEW DELHI
: The Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) is setting up four US-funded Bio-Safety
Level-three laboratories (BSL-3) in the country to tackle any
outbreak of the avian flu, says a PTI report.
"The laboratories would be set up at New Delhi,
Chennai, Kolkata and Pune," ICMR Director General Prof. N K
Ganguly, told reporters in Chennai on February 27.
Stating that it was intended to make the centres
functional within the current financial year, he said an
international consultancy firm has been entrusted with the task of
setting up the centres at a cost ranging between Rs 15 crores to
Rs 20 crores.
He said one such centre was already operative in the
central zone at Bhopal.
The one at Pune would be largest of the lot, he said
and added that Tamil Nadu had been chosen for having a centre for
the South as most poultry in the region was produced in the state.
The Chennai laboratory would be located at the Tuberculosis
Research Centre (TRC), he said.
The council, he said, has established an ICMR School
of Public Health at suburban Ambattur, which will offer a two-year
PG course in epidemiology.
It has a hostel of international standards, guest
house and a training centre. The ICMR had signed a MOU with Boston
University and another American University for providing
specialised training, he said.
Ganguly said the council had also established a Rural
Health and Research Training Centre at nearby Tiruvallur, with an
initial investment of Rs 10 crores.
www.icmr.nic.in