lack of human resource at Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is posing a major hurdle in implementing the rules as even after passing defined by-laws for sale of poultry products, many of the fish, chicken sellers in Capital city are not abiding by the regulations. In the wake of new By-laws under the Municipal licence (For sale of flesh, fish or poultry) Regulation, 2017, all poultry products will be immediately seized by the civic body enforcement team, if sold along the roadside.
In attempt to maintain cleanliness in the city, a week ago, during the RMC Board meeting it was clarified that sale of poultry products especially fish, chicken along the roadside will be immediately stopped. The Municipal Corporation has planned a strategy to curtail this practice with immediate effort, however, with merely four enforcement officials, the RMC is finding it difficult to put restrain on sale of fish, chicken in open along the busiest streets.
“We are having just four enforcement officers who have to inspect all four different zones. They work from 6 AM to 2 PM. For keeping the streets and roads clean, we need a dedicated team who will serve round a clock in different shifts covering all the 55 wards. Until few more personnel are not recruited in the city enforcement squad team, it is difficult to completely eradicate the practice of poultry sale along roadside,” said, RMC Officer (Health), Dr. Kiran Kumari.
Ironically, when enquired about the city enforcement team squad status, RMC, PRO, Naresh Sinha was clueless about the total strength and was not even aware about the sale of poultry products along the roadside. “I am not aware about the status of enforcement team and sale of poultry products along the streets. Action will be taken against the offenders who will be found guilty of violating the set guidelines,” Sinha further clarified his stance in haste.
As per the records and RMC Health Officer’s claim in a city enforcement team, approximately 12 to 15 members should be recruited under the supervision of Magistrates and other officials at present. Around 12-13 wards are covered under one particular zone. More than 10 enforcement officers are required to put a hold on sale of poultry products being sold out recklessly along the roads adding to more dirt and woes.
“The proposal has been accepted few days back and we are now on the process of recruiting eight enforcement officers to control this menace. All these eight enforcement officers are retired military officers, under whose guidance other sub-ordinates will work in seizing down all the illicit shops opened along the roads and selling chicken, fish in open,” added, Dr. Kiran.
Notably, the civic body has started issuing licences to the fish and chicken sellers. Soon, the team will conduct inspection to verify the documents submitted by the prospect sellers. A drive will be conducted in different wards to remove all make-shift chicken shops along with acting tough on fish merchants putting their shops beside the streets especially in morning and evening on daily basis.