If you are a pork eater in Raipur in Chattisgarh, Chandrapur in Maharashtra, Bengaluru in Karnataka or Hyderabad, chances are you are consuming the meat of swine from Adilabad and neighbouring districts.
As the exported pigs live off garbage and refuse of all kinds in these small towns, the consumers of the big cities face a higher risk of being affected by parasitic infections.
The export of pigs is a steadily growing business. The pigs are processed in these cities and the meat is marketed through outlets and hotels. “There is good demand for our pigs in these places,” revealed Gouraram Ramesh, who is in the business since the last few years.
Middlemen
“Middlemen buy these animals and transport them every week,” he pointed out. Some 60 to 70 animals weighing between 25 kg and 30 kg each are sent out of Adilabad town and Utnoor every week to Chandrapur and thence to Raipur.
An equal number of pigs are exported to these places from Mancherial and Bellampalli in Mancherial and Kagaznagar in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. From Nirmal town also about the same number of animals are exported to Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Each pig fetches between ₹ 1,000 and ₹1,250, according to Ramesh who says the middlemen sell it or a higher profit. There are 10 middlemen who regularly come to town for the purchases.
Animal parts
The controversy surrounding shifting of the cattle slaughter yard located near Kachkanti village on Adilabad town outskirts also brought into focus the export of beef to Maharashtra from the bordering areas in the four districts. As the neighbouring State has banned sale and consumption of beef, cattle meat is allegedly being smuggled into that State. “It is untrue that as as many as 60 bullocks are slaughtered everyday or that beef is being exported to Maharashtra,” asserted Intekhab Alam, owner of a local beef outlet. He however, pointed out that parts of cattle like its shank and gut, among others, are exported to Hyderabad and Nanded in Maharashtra.
“These parts are not consumed but are used in making utility items. The shank is exported to China where it is said to be used in manufacture of certain medicines,” Mr. Alam disclosed.
