Meerut: After a gap of almost three months, the Meerut district administration has again tightened its noose on the city’s meat trade. On Wednesday, Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) officials led by city magistrate MP Singh raided several meat shops in the Ghantaghar area of the city.
Backed by a heavy police force, FSDA officials sealed four shops for allegedly flouting norms related to hygiene and mandated equipment. Chief food safety officer, FSDA, Sarvesh Mishra told TOI, “The raid was conducted to ensure that all mandatory provisions for licences to run meat shops were being observed. During the raid, four shops selling chicken and other kinds of meat were sealed because they were found flouting these provisions. Owners of all four have been booked under relevant sections of Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006. We even destroyed 20 kg of chicken meat in the process.”
Following an initial crackdown soon after Yogi government in March 2017 took charge in UP, police had eventually adopted a soft approach to enforcing the norms for the meat trade around Eid.
Haji Raees (name changed), who sells buffalo meat said, “The sudden arrival of a huge police force with officials reminded us of the ugly period in April when not only were the shops forcibly shut by the police, but supply of meat had also been curbed after orders from the administration. All this is again happening ahead of the chief minister’s visit on November 18. This indicates that the difficult days are back for us, particularly with the civic body elections about to take place.”
CM Yogi is slated to visit Meerut on Saturday to attend a rally for civic polls.
City superintendent of police Maan Singh Chauhan, however, refuted the charges and said, “The CM’s visit has nothing to do with the raid. All the four shops sealed did not have licences to run their establishments. They were flouting all the norms like not cutting meat in the open. They did not have glass doors, and had flouted other requirements.”
The team also raided a restaurant in the area, Al Kareem. “We found 53 cooking gas cylinders stocked there, and have seized them,” Chauhan added.
City magistrate MP Singh said, “The drive will be conducted every week to ensure there is no flouting of the law.”
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