Jamshedpur, March 29 : Fear of livelihood has gripped meat sellers in the city after local urban bodies took step towards compliance of the State Government�s directive to shut down illegal abattoirs and slaughterhouses on Wednesday. The civic bodies have started sending notices to the shop owners.
A meat shop owner whose family has been selling chicken and muttons for the last five decades in Jugsalai is saddened over the sudden government�s decision.
� I have received a notice today and have sent my son to JNAC office for license formalities. I do not what will happen in future. My family�s future lies on this business and we have been selling meat for generations and have not learnt any other trade,� said Mohammed Nizam, a meat shop owner.
The meat sellers admit that they used to get goats from Balrampur (in Purulia district) of Bengal while a Sakchi-based whole seller used to supply them chicken. They sell chicken at a rate of Rs 120 per kg while mutton at Rs 500 per kg to earn their daily bread.
According to information, there are around 45 cow slaughter houses in the city primarily in Muslim dominated areas like Sakchi, Dhatkidih Mango, and Jugsalai in city and over 150 mutton and chicken shop owners in the city and there have been no license issued since 1979 (during erstwhile Bihar) anywhere in the city.
With the strict provisions for taking of license under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (slaughterhouse) Rules, 2001 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (slaughterhouse) Amendment Rules, 2010 the meat sellers are fearing for the worse.
According to information teams of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) and Jugsalai Municipality have started sending notices to mainly those shops selling beef . Later on they will serve notices to meat shops selling mutton and chicken. The teams also comprise representatives from district health department and district animal husbandry unit too.
�As per our records there are no licensed slaughter houses or abattoirs in the city. We have started serving notices to each of such shop owners from today as per directive of the state government.
They will be given 72-hours to shut down their shops and take proper license from respective local urban bodies and meet mandatory provisions,� said SDO Dhalbhum Manoj Kumar Ranjan, who is also the nodal officer for implementation of the order in Jamshedpur city area.
Incidentally, after issuance of notices by teams from local urban bodies in their respective areas, the local police station officials will have to ensure that such slaughter houses are closed effectively in coordination with local urban body authorities.
JNAC special officer, Deepak Sahay said that illegal slaughtering at small shops, which lack proper hygiene is a health threat.
Moreover, meat shops dump the wastes in drains, clogging them. At most places, blood flows into drains causing pollution. The waste water generated from abattoirs is highly contaminated and should not be allowed to run into drains,� said Sahay.