The Chennai Corporation on Tuesday seized 3.3 tonnes of rotten meat at Chennai Central railway station, after they were unloaded from the Jaipur Express.
The cheap pricing of such meat is the key reason for its popularity among small meat shops and hotels, said officials.
Over 2,000 heads of cattle are slaughtered on a daily basis in the city under the supervision of veterinary surgeons of the Corporation. In addition to such cattle, a number of hotels procure meat illegally from other cities.
Following the crackdown a few years ago by the Corporation, smuggling of rotten meat through rail reduced significantly. In the past few weeks, merchants have started using the rail route owing to a dip in monitoring. The civic body, in association with the food safety department, is planning to screen more than 1,000 licensed meat shops and create awareness on public health.
The Corporation’s health department will also streamline and intensify anti-mortem and post-mortem inspection of animals butchered in slaughterhouses.
Crackdown on gutkaThe food safety department on Tuesday also cracked down on illegal sale of gutka in Sowcarpet, Koyambedu, Arumbakkam and Saidapet, and seized one tonne of the product.
