By NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : With butchers going on an indefinite strike in the Indian capital, Delhites are likely to miss their favourite meat dishes this weekend.
As winter is setting in north India, when demand is fairly high from consumers, stocks of mutton and buffalo meat are quickly drying up, as about 3,000 meat retailers would not be able to supply their customers.
For over a week, butchers in the 200-year-old Idgah slaughter house in the old city and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had been squabbling over the issue of shifting to a new abattoir at Ghazipur, about two kilometers from the original site.
“It is not convenient for us. The new place is not hygienic, it’s located near a landfill and a big drain, it is smelly. MCD is asking us to move from a hygienic place to an unhygienic place.
“We will continue our strike until our demands are met,” Delhi Meat Merchants Association president Aqil Mohammed Quershi told Bernama today.
Daily, about 10,000 animals comprising goats, buffaloes and calves are slaughtered. Most of the meat is also exported to the Gulf markets.
“There is already 90 per cent shortage of meat in the city. Soon, poultry and fish traders will join us to protest. Meat prices have also shot up,” said Sirajuddin Qureshi, president of the All India Jamaiatul, which represents the Muslim meat traders community in the country.
For the moment, Delhites may have to forgo their sumptuous ‘mutton briyani’ or ‘mutton rogan josh’, a spicy Kashmiri delicacy, as meat prices have doubled in recent days.
Over 100,000 workers in the meat industry have been affected by the ongoing strike.