BMC asks Deonar abattoir to shut shop

He added, however, that butchers slaughtering other animals were not affected. “Beef slaughter has been completely stopped at the abattoir now,” he said.

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Appasingh Pawara, General Manager, Deonar abattoir said, “We received the court’s order on Tuesday, so we have stopped the slaughtering of bullocks and buffaloes immediately. We haven’t faced any problems from the dealers side but we have officially implemented the ban.”

Mohammad Ali Qureshi, president of the Mumbai Suburban Beef Dealers Association, however, said that he had submitted a writ petition in the High Court on Wednesday, challenging the order. “Soon after the state government banned the sale of beef in the state, the VHP approached the HC asking the Deonar slaughterhouse to be shut. We do not know what their rush was when the government is yet to issue a formal notification and set a date from which the ban is to be enforced,” he said.

Qureshi added that the livelihoods of atleast a 1000 people employed at the abattoir would be hit following Tuesday’s shutdown.

“There are men who feed and clean and cattle, those who cut carcasses into several pieces and others who transport the meat to retailers, cold storage units and hotels. These people will have no work until atleast Thursday. We will now decide our next course of action after our plea comes on board on Thursday and a decision is taken,” he said.

Qureshi also said that the shutdown would also hit nearly 900 licensed meat retailers and just as many unlicensed ones.

mumbai.newsline@expresindia.com