EDMC abattoir to stay shut on final 3 days of Navratri

NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of the South Delhi mayor issuing a letter advocating a Navratri ban on meat shops -- an executive directive in this regard has not come even three days after the letter -- east Delhi mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal on Wednesday ordered shut the Ghazipur slaughterhouse, the only legal functional abattoir in the Capital, on the last three days of Navratri (April 8,9, and 10), while stating that the closure was a routine, yearly exercise.

Aggarwal convened a meeting on Wednesday with the veterinary department and public health department during which the issue of enforcement of a three-day closure of Ghazipur abattoir was discussed. “I have directed the department to ensure that the abattoir is kept closed on the 8th, 9th and 10th of April. Since the slaughterhouse will be closed, the department should also carry out a drive to ensure that illegally slaughtered meat or stale meat is not being sold in meat shops,” he said.

The three-day annual closure of the slaughterhouse on saptami, ashtami and navami is a standard practice, officials and livestock traders in Ghazipur have confirmed.

A senior East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) official clarified that there was no legal compulsion to close meat shops and only the slaughterhouse will remain closed during the threeday period.

Gulfam Qureshi, who heads the Ghazipur livestock market near the abattoir, said it was only a coincidence that Navratri and Ramzan periods have overlapped this year. “The slaughterhouse remains closed on these three days every year... In the name of meat, politicians want to target a particular community...,” he said.