New Delhi, Oct 26 (Inditop.com) Butchers and meat traders of Delhi continued their strike for the fourth day Monday, officials said. They are protesting the shifting of the capital’s slaughterhouse from the heart of the city to an edge.
The traders said they would continue their strike till the authorities revoke the decision. Chicken and fish sellers may join the strike Tuesday.
The centuries-old abattoir next to Idgah near the walled city was closed down Thursday following a Supreme Court order, after a five-year legal battle between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the meat traders association.
The new slaughterhouse built in Ghazipur, east Delhi, is high tech, but has been criticised because it is next to a sanitary landfill site.
“The strike is going to continue till the authorities roll back their decision. A meeting with the chicken and fish sellers are on and from tomorrow they are expected to join the strike,” Mohammad Asif, who is the president of the New Delhi Meat Traders’s Association, told Inditop.
“We are ready for a debate anywhere with the corporation and if anyone can prove that we are wrong then we will do what they want us to. It is completely unhygienic at Ghazipur. Ask the authorities to send a team of doctors to Ghazipur and prove if it is possible to work there. The working conditions are so bad,” Asif said.
According to meat sellers around the capital, around 150,000 people in the business are suffering because of the strike.
Asif said: “Even the MCD commissioner can’t stand at the place (Ghazipur) for more than 15 minutes. They actually want to construct a mall at this place (near Idgah) and that is why they want the land. Why don’t they build their own office at Ghazipur?”
He claimed that the capacity of Ghazipur slaughterhouse is around 3,000 animals per day whereas Delhi’s demand is 10,000-15,000.
“The corporation is talking about working in shifts but our maximum sale is finished by afternoon. What will we do about that? Anything prepared there will not be fit to be consumed as that place is very dirty,” Asif said.
Wadood Sajid, member of an organisation representing the Qureshi (butcher) community, said: “Ghazipur slaughterhouse is in utter mess with lots of problems surrounding it and the MCD misled the court that it will clear the mess. It has failed to do so till date. It is the most unhygienic place for running a slaughterhouse.”
Asked if they had approached Delhi’s Chief minister Sheila Dikshit on the issue, Asif said: “She didn’t show any promise.”
The immediate impact of the butchers’ strike has been on meat shops, a number of which are closed or have hiked prices. At some shops there has been no supply at all for the last few days.
Yasin Hussain, a meat shop owner in north Delhi, said the price of chicken has risen from Rs.100 a kilo to almost Rs.150.
“Mutton supply has been hampered because of the strike but we have made alternate arrangements. Even three days back, mutton was selling at Rs.250 a kilo and chicken has gone up to Rs.150,” he said.
Reacting to the increase in rates, Asif said: “Rates will further increase and then it will affect vegetable prices also. If non-vegetarians do not get meat, they will naturally buy more vegetables thereby increasing demand.”
