Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s recent order closing down illegal abattoirs in the State put meat shop owners in a tizzy. Even as the shop owners called off the strike, HUJJAT RAZA looks back into the issue from lucknow
As one strolls down lucknow’s Akbari Gate and takes the turn leading to Tunday Kebabi in the narrow lane of Chowk area, a whiff of kitchen herbs that go into the making of the connoisseur’s ultimate choice, kebabs, wafts through. In this weary lane, business starts early morning, as does the footfall of eager customers.
But in the last few days, foodies thronging the shop for their morning quota of delicious kebabs have had to return disappointed. ReasonIJ Sudden shortage of buffalo meat referred to as bade ka gosht that makes the Tunday eatery famous.
In Tunday’s neighbourhood, several shops selling kulcha nihari have also been badly hit. The famous mutton biryani sold at ‘Idris’ opposite Pata Nala Chowki lies deserted ever since illegal slaughter houses were shut down in Uttar Pradesh.
For now, non-vegetarians have fallen back on egg and fish. The task of others has been rendered easy by faith, thanks to the auspicious Navratra.
The crackdown on illegal abattoirs has led to a shortage of buffalo meat. With the official machinery gearing up to implement a 2015 National Green Tribunal (NGT) order on retail meat sellers has resulted in the closure of most. In turn, meat sellers — both legal and illegal — have resorted to exerting pressure on the Government to cancel the abattoir ban. With the Government refusing to relent, most have closed shop.
“We have been dishing out bade ka kebab for ages. But due to the short supply, this popular dish has been deleted from the menu. We switched over to mutton and chicken kebabs but since they are costly, most of our customers have stopped coming. It has resulted in huge losses in the last few days,” Raees Ahmad of the famous Tunday Kebabi, says.
Buffalo meat costs Rs 180-Rs 200 per kg while goat meat (mutton) costs Rs 400-Rs 500 per kg and chicken Rs 120 to Rs 180 a kg.
Not just eateries thriving on buffalo meat but even those specialising in chicken preparations have been hit due to the stir. The famous Waheed Biryani in Aminabad barely has any biryani. “The chicken supplier has cut down on supply due to the stir as a result of which we cannot prepare even chicken biryani in large quantity,” the owner said.
The story behind the sudden closure of illegal slaughter houses dates back to 2014. It was back then that the NGT directed the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to send notices to industries discharging effluents into the Ganges river and its tributaries. Even the slaughter houses run by Government authorities and private meat processing units were on the list.
On May 8, 2014 notices to 28 abattoirs were sent by the UPPCB on NGT’s order. Once again, in May 2015, the NGT directed State Government that the slaughter houses which did not have the UPPCB’s sanction not to be allowed to operate in the open or through shops. But the then Samajwadi Party Government did not take any action against the illegal abattoirs mostly owned by the minority community. Keeping the votebank politics in mind, the then Government put the issue on the backburner. As a result, abattoirs not only flourised but also multiplied without any checks. Those who happily relished the delicacies did not think twice about the kitchen and hygiene.
laxity in implementing NGT orders is directly responsible for the present meat crisis across the State. Most abattoirs run by the Municipal Corporation and Nagar Panchayats have been shut down and local meat shops are not getting meat to sell at their licensed shops.
“On NGT’s instructions, the closure order were issued to slaughter houses concerned through the local municipal corporation and district administration from time to time. It, thus, becomes the duty of the authorities to carry out the orders. In many cases, compliance reports were also sought,” member secretary of the UPPCB SC Yadav said.
Back in 2014, Barelvi cleric Tauqeer Raza had sent a memorandum to then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, demanding that the State Government inspect and shut down the abattoirs slaughtering more animals than licensed for and that no new licences be issued as their number was already high. The cleric’s concern was about the continuous slaughter of ‘milch cattle’ in the State, creating a shortage of milk. The direct result of this shortage, he felt, was adulterated and synthetic milk being sold in the open market.
“The action taken against illegal abattoirs managed to only close down the ones fulfilling domestic needs while the big and private slaughter houses continued to run with impunity. If the Government wants to protect the animals and milk production, then serious steps need to be taken on big abattoirs,” Raza said.
The cleric expressed concern about local meat sellers and others attached to the business who mainly come from the minority community.
In a meeting with UP’s Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, the State President of the All India Jamaitul Quraish Haji Yusuf Qureshi said: “The crisis is due to the previous Government’s mistakes. Had they corrected things in time, such a situation would not have cropped up. Our licenses were not renewed and local abattoirs closed. How should we earn our livelihoodIJ” he asked.
The issue of meat shop licence renewal now hangs in balance as the Municipal Corporations are not taking up any application until fresh directives from the State Government are received in this connection. In lucknow alone, there are more than 300 licensed shop owners demanding renewal but the lucknow Municipal Corporation (lMC) has put the requests in limbo. “We are awaiting Government orders in this regard and any move on renewal will take place only after that,” lMC’s veterinary officer AK Rao said.
Meanwhile, some meat shop owners have taken the licence renewal matter to the High Court by submitting an urgent application in an ongoing petition.
When the HC questioned the lMC on the delay in renewal, the latter pointed out that it was on court orders that the lMC-run Moti Jheel slaughter house was closed on March 13, 2015.
For a meat shop to get a licence, it needs to be covered with glass or wooden curtains with proper flooring and a sound drainage system. Along with it, the shop should not be within 50 metres of any school, residential area or religious building. Alongside nearly 300 licenced meat shops in lucknow, more than 700 illegal ones were flourishing across the State capital, selling mutton and chicken on road sides and in residential areas. Most of them were on the road, and they used to slaughter and sell meat in open.
Many of these illegal shops followed no health and hygiene norms. Chunks of meat used to be displayed in the open and covered with a dirty cloth. These shops flouted every norm in the book required to get a licence which, incidentally, costs just Rs 1,200. In the raids conducted by the lMC, more than 400 such shops were locked up and their meat seized.
There were also reports that with the closure of slaughter houses, local meat sellers had resorted to slaughtering animals in their homes to selling the meat. No anti-mortem or post-mortem was being done of this meat. However, local meat sellers denied any such slaughtering.
Cashing in on the crisis, some licensed chicken shops have jacked up the rates and are now selling the bird for Rs 250-Rs 300 a kg.
Interestingly, no meat seller union affected by the closure of slaughter houses has opposed the decision but they are demanding better policy and availability of abattoirs in their respective districts. President of the Meat Murga Vyapari Kalyan Samiti Mohd Iqbal Qureshi said: “We are not opposing the Government’s action on illegal abattoirs but we want that it should make alternative arrangements for us to do business. There are no abattoirs from where local meat sellers can buy meat for selling. We just want the facility to start soon,” he added.
More than 25 lakh people are attached to the meat industry but meat sellers are in a big loss as it was their daily business through which they fed their families. A meat sellers union member on, condition of anonymity, revealed that some small shop owners were seen at the labour Adda, ready to work as daily wagers at construction sites to earn their daily bread. “We are trying to help them but the big question is ‘kab tak’,” he said. As per official data, 44 licensed abattoirs are running across the State. A majority of these are owned by meat exporters. Aligarh-based Meat Exporters Union’s spokesperson Fauzan Alwi claimed that “the meat exporters have already lost business worth Rs 4,000 crore since the crackdown began and, at present, our licensed slaughter houses are running below capacity.”
He added that around eight big slaughter houses had been closed down due to minor issues for which no show-cause notice had been given. The implementation authorities are overzealous despite Government asking them to go easy, he claimed. “In many raids at slaughter houses, a large number of police and administration officials went there as if there were going catch a criminal. It created a sense of fear among us,” he added.
All not over yet
lUCKNOW: Even after negotiations with Yogi, there are a couple of hitches in restoring the meat supply, because of which it would be difficult for the meat shops to resume sale. If all goes well, your favourite Tunday ke kebabs will be back after Navratri.
Meat sellers have been demanding renewal of licences and modernisation of municipal corporation and nagar panchayat abattoirs. The issue was tabled during the meeting with the Chief Minister and it was assured that demands would be considered.
Office-bearers of the All India Jamiatul Quraish, a meat sellers body, appealed for a call-off of the strike but shops said they would do so after Navratri. During this period, they will complete the modalities for renewal of licences. But there is no official word from the State Government for starting the renewal process and alternative arrangements for slaughtering animals.
Jamiatul Quresh member Shahabuddin Qureshi said, “though the meeting was fruitful and all our demands were heard by the Chief Minister, the situation remains the same as, so far, neither the municipal corporation nor the district administration has given anything in writing for renewal of licences. How can we open shops without it,” he added.
Even if the licences are renewed, the other issue of slaughtering animals will arise. As per the rules, the meat sellers need to bring their animals to municipal slaughter houses to get the meat but these are locked down on NGT order. Qureshi said, “we have asked the Government to upgrade those abattoirs as per NGT guidelines but in the meantime, an alternative arrangement should be made for slaughtering so that we earn our livelihood”.
The owner of Tundey Kebabi Mohd Usmaan, however, is hopeful that as soon the shops open and the supply of meat restored, “our speciality Bade Ka Kebab will be served. As of now, Navratri is under way, we hope things will come on track as soon the festival gets over. We will now start serving mutton and chicken kebabs”.