A new policy was introduced by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee on Friday to grant licences to meat stores and processing plants located in areas under the jurisdiction of the civic body.
Store owners may obtain licenses for ₹5,000, as long as they adhere to provisions such as square footage of the shop and other rules, such as no slaughtering of meat in the open.
The policy specifies powers of ‘central meat raid teams’ in case cow slaughtering is found in the shops, which include laboratory testing of samples, immediate revocation of licence and sealing of the shop till the matter is resolved by courts.
Distance parameters
It also proposed an increase in the distance between such shops and religious institutions from 100 metres to 150 metres. For mosques, however, the distance will be applicable only for pork shops, while other meat shops situated within 100 metres of the mosque will require permission from the managing committee of the mosque.
Apart from this, poultry shops will not be allowed within 10 km of the Delhi airport as waste from slaughtering of poultry thrown in the open attracts birds, which posed a threat to aircraft.
