Butchers will have to shut shop

Rajesh Sharma, Mayor-in-Council member in charge of the Markets Committee in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), says: “Slaughter will be carried out at the Deonar abattoir only. Individuals can bring their animals to the abattoir and slaughter them there.” This will ensure that sick and diseased animals are not slaughtered as there is a full-time vet at the abattoir, he added. Also, animal waste will be disposed of in a hygienic manner, a major cause forconcern for the BMC as the waste is discarded in the open by shop-keepers, he explains.

He says his department will also initiate action against the 189 shops which were given licences by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in May 1991 but continued to function though their licences were revoked in August that year. The licences were issued by the then deputy municipal commissioner, G R Khairnar, but were withdrawn following opposition from the then Bharatiya Janata Party corporator, Ramdas Nayak.

However, under the banner of the Suburban Khatik Association, butchers filed a case against the BMC in the Bombay High Court but the court ruled against the petitioners. Sharma says the court had also ruled that the BMC should act according to the rules laid down in the BMC Act but since no action had been initiated since, the shop-keepers had did not shut shop.

Closing down all the butcher’s shops in the city would help increase the abattoir’s revenue as well as provide employment for the extra staffemployed there. At present, the abattoir employs over 1,000 persons.The administration is also in the process of appointing inspectors to undertake raids at butcher’s shops, with each inspector being assisted by five to six persons. Police protection will be provided if necessary, with consent already having been given at a meeting of the Police Department on Monday.

Significantly, the BMC has also decided to stop transporting meat from the abattoir to shops all over the city, which has been the practice since several years. “The BMC has been losing Rs 2 crore every year and hence I forwarded a proposal to end this service,” Sharma says, adding that it is not obligatory on the part of the BMC to transport the meat.

If the price of meat increases due to this, he said the administration would lower the price at the abattoir though modalities are yet to be worked out.