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Slaughterhouses to be closed down from Monday

Special Correspondent

Government Order follows complaints of lack of hygiene and the decision to shift them

Meat merchants express opposition to GO
Civic body had sought time to shift abattoirs

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Meat merchants, including Khasim Khaleel-ur-Rehman (right), head of Meat Merchants Association, at a meeting in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: Non-vegetarian residents of Bangalore may have to go without meat from Monday as the Government has ordered the closure of the three slaughterhouses in the city.In an order of December 31, 2008, the Karnataka Meat and Poultry Marketing Corporation has decided to withdraw the rights given to meat merchants of Bangalore to slaughter animals at its three abattoirs at Yeshwanthpur and City Market and on Tannery Road.

The authorities had decided to shift the slaughterhouses from Bangalore to the outskirts in view of complaints about unhygienic atmosphere and the foul smell emanating from their precincts.

Though the Government had initially decided to modernise the abattoir on Tannery Road keeping in mind the complaints about the lack of hygiene on the premises of the abattoir and even prepared a Rs. 4.65-crore plan in 2002, the proposal could not be implemented after a petition was filed in the High Court of Karnataka seeking the shifting of the slaughterhouse to the outskirts of the city.

According to the Government Order, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, all activities at the slaughterhouses should come to a halt after work hours on Sunday.

However, fish and poultry products such as chicken and eggs will continue to be available.

The meat merchants have expressed opposition to the Government Order. “How can the authorities order the closure of the slaughterhouses without making alternative arrangements? Where do they expect us to go? They cannot deny us our right to livelihood,” said Khasim Khaleel-ur-Rahman, who heads the Meat Merchants Association in Bangalore.

Shocked

“The copy of the order reached us on January 1. We are shocked to learn that the slaughterhouses will have to be closed in four days,” Mr. Rahman said. An estimated four lakh people are engaged in meat business in the city.

The secretary of the Karnataka Mutton Merchants Association, Iqbal Ahmed, said the Government’s decision will throw meat merchants and their families to the streets. “Apart from meat merchants, several people, who deal with skin and bones of animals, will also be hit. It is not just Muslims who will be affected, others who are engaged in this trade too will be hit,” Mr. Ahmed said.

While the slaughterhouses at Yeshwanthpur and City Market cater to mutton traders, the one on Tannery Road caters to mutton as well as beef merchants. Arifulla, proprietor of Elahi Fresh Meat, who supplies an estimated 200 kg of beef to various star hotels in Bangalore every day, said the closure of the abattoirs will deny several foreigners visiting the city of their staple diet. “The reputation of Bangalore could take a hit globally if beef is not made available to its consumers visiting the city from different parts of the world,” he said.

Dispute

The Karnataka Meat and Poultry Marketing Corporation’s decision to close down the abattoirs comes after years of dispute over its shifting to the outskirts of the city.

According to an official of the corporation, the decision to close down the abattoirs was taken after the High Court of Karnataka, in an order passed on August 28, 2008, rejected the civic body’s request for more time to shift to a 40-acre plot at Igaluru in Anekal taluk, about 35 km from the city.

Mr. Rahman cited Section 364 of the Karnataka Municipalities Act 1976 which states that the civic body shall provide sufficient number of places for use as corporation slaughterhouses and the commissioner may charge and levy such rents and fees for their use as a standing committee may determine. The Act states that a corporation slaughterhouse may be situated in the city limits or outside the limits, he added.

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