UP’s war on illegal meat shakes licensed shops too
ANIMAL FARM Industry has Hindus as well, traders stop transport of buffaloes, farmers refuse to sell spent animals
ALIGARH : A sense of fear has enveloped the meat industry in Uttar Pradesh in view of the ongoing crackdown against illegal abattoirs, but surprisingly, the wind is being felt even in licensed slaughterhouses.
For instance, Vishwanathan Pillai, who works as production head at Frigerio Conserva Allana Limited, one of the country’s biggest— and legal — slaughterhouse-cum-meat processing units, said the factory has seen 50% reduction in buffalo stock due to the crackdown and fears that the “worst is yet to come”.
“The traders have stopped transporting animals from local mandis for us because they fear they would be attacked on the way. Farmers do not want to sell their spent animals because the rates have come down. I do not know who will give us jobs if they close our plant too,” said Pillai.
During his first visit to Gorakhpur after being sworn in as chief minister, Yogi Adityanath had said on Saturday: “The government will not touch those abattoirs which are operating as per the provisions of the law and have a valid licence,” adding that those violating National Green Tribunal norms on would not be spared.
But people employed in a wide swathe of businesses from restaurants to abattoirs to meat shops and the leather trade fear that a zealous administration may exceed the Yogi’s brief.
The Frigerio abattoir, spread over 45 acres in Talaspur Khurd village of Aligarh, 150 kms from the national capital, provides employment to 2,100-odd workers, most of them Hindus.
The high-pitched crackdown has found support of Hindu right-wing groups and this has made the workers, like Pillai, foresee a bleak future.