City abattoir or nothing, GMC tells meat sellers

Guwahati: Guwahati Municipal Corporation will take stern action against meat sellers who do not slaughter animals at the government's only abattoir in Khanapara that belongs to the Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation (ALPCo), with a capacity to slaughter 300 pigs, 16,000 poultry and 4,500 goats a day.

According to a GMC official, the recent order aims to ensure availability of hygienic meat for city residents from February 1.

It further says that all meat sellers in areas under the GMC must slaughter animals only at the government-certified abattoir in Khanapara.

The order further says no meat dealer will be allowed to slaughter animals anywhere else and violators will have to face huge punitive measures as per GMC bylaws, besides cancellation of registration certificates.

The official also said all meat shops have been asked to register themselves under the GMC within February 1.

"Meat sellers will have two options. They can either order meat they need for a day or take their animals to the slaughterhouse. In both cases, a seller will get Rs 70 as profit against selling prices fixed by the GMC," veterinary officer of the corporation, Pradip Medhi, told this correspondent.

In Guwahati, as per data of the last financial year, there are 132 meat sellers, 313 fish sellers, 213 poultry and egg sellers, 13 pork sellers and 60 animal product suppliers registered under the GMC.

Medhi said this year, many new meat sellers have registered themselves and their number will increase drastically by the end of the financial year.

President of the meat sellers' association Muslim Ali opposed the GMC's move. "The slaughterhouse will supply meat which will be kept in refrigerators for around eight hours. It will greatly hamper our business because customers will not buy meat already kept in refrigerators.

"We have submitted a proposal to provide us at least 10kg meat from the slaughterhouse for sale experimentally. If customers are satisfied, we will certainly accept the GMC's order. But till now officials have not responded to our proposal. Moreover the slaughterhouse is at Khanapara, so transportation cost will be huge. We demand that the slaughterhouse supplies meat to every shop," Ali said.

In response, Medhi said next week there would be a meeting between meat sellers, GMC officials and ALPCo to sort out the issue.

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