Crackdown on meat shops leaves butchers worried

KANNUR: Amidst the slaughterhouse crackdown by Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the notice served by the Kannur corporation authorities has created panic among the meat shop owners and employees, the notice sent under sections 453, 455 and 469 of the

Kerala Municipality Act

says that they have to close down the shop within three days of receiving the notice since they do not have any license or else they will have to face prosecution.

According to the corporation authorities, the notice has been sent to 50-odd meat stalls without license, after the visit by health department officials visited and also the Supreme Court has directed that illegal slaughterhouses should not be permitted. “We will also have to take stringent measures to ensure that shops are selling clean meat, and only the licensed shops will be allowed to function,” said corporation secretary, K P Vinayan.

This is not a new law but the authorities are stringently implementing the existing rules, he said. But in order to implement the rules, the authorities should first ensure the infrastructure is in place, said the meat shop owners.

“We had license to sell meat for many years but later the municipal authorities refused to renew it saying that we have no slaughterhouse facility,” said C P Salim, a meat shop owner in Central Market here.

However, they can sell meat if they get a certificate saying that they procure meat from a licensed slaughterhouse, the irony is that there is no slaughterhouse in Kannur district.

“Though we received the notice, how can we get a slaughterhouse overnight? It is for the authorities to provide the facility at the earliest, even the slaughterhouse of the corporation, is still under construction. Without an alternative in place, how can they ask the meat shops without license to down the shutters?” asked Ashraf K L, district secretary of meat employees’ association. He said the issue has been brought to the attention of the corporation authorities and it is expected that there will not be any hurried action.

Mayor E P Latha also said that it is a routine procedure as per law, and the corporation is in the process of completing the work of the slaughterhouse in the outskirts of the city. However, it is for the meat shops to ensure that they have proper system in place for slaughtering, she added. But she did not conclusively say if there will be any immediate action against the illegal meat houses.

The meat shop owners and workers are a worried lot, because in the Corporation itself there are around 50 meat shops and 10 slaughterhouses, which provide employment to over 300 people.