Slaughterhouse in Deonar to be shut on Sunday

It is a normal practice to shut the slaughterhouse. The sale of meat will not be affected as dealers will stock up a day before.

The Deonar slaughterhouse will remain shut on Sunday, April 9, owing to Mahavir Jayanti, said a press note issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday. According to the civic body, no slaughter of any kind will be allowed in the premises as the festival is also celebrated as Ahimsa Divas (non-violence day). Yogesh Shetye, general manager at the abattoir said, “It is a normal practice to shut the slaughterhouse. The sale of meat will not be affected as dealers will stock up a day before.” Apart from Mahavir Jayanti — an important religious festival of the Jains — the BMC shuts the slaughterhouse for Gandhi Jayanti and four days of Paryushan (an eight-day Jain festival that falls in August or September).

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government is preparing to challenge the Bombay high court’s order, which states that the state government has no statutory powers to direct municipal bodies to close slaughter houses and meat shops on any particular day.

Minister of state for home Ranjit Patil said the state would chal lenge the high court’s decision in the Apex Court on Saturday. Pati was replying to concerns raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Mangalprabhat Lodha in the lower house.

“For the first time, slaughter houses and meat shops in Mum bai will be open even during Mahavir Jayanti. The tradition of shutting meat shops on this occa sion was followed even during the Mughal regime. The high court’s directive insults religious senti ments,” Lodha said.

Earlier that day, a delegation of party legislators met chief min ister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded that he intervene and resolve the matter. The legisla tors said Fadnavis agreed to their demand.