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The Municipal Corporation has decided to relocate meat shops from the Jwalapur area in view of upcoming religious events in Haridwar. A proposal to shift raw meat shops outside the municipal limits was approved during a board meeting.
Under this plan, around 56 shops will be constructed in the Sarai area, where all raw meat vendors will be relocated. The decision has been taken considering major religious gatherings in Haridwar, such as the Kumbh Mela and the Kanwar Yatra, along with other spiritual events. Haridwar Municipal Commissioner Nandan Kumar said, "A ban on the sale of raw meat from the Municipal area has been passed by the board. In that, our old by-laws were amended, and the new by-laws were put in front of the board. The amendment in the by-laws is that earlier, in some areas, this ban was not there, like in the Jaunapur area. Now, by expanding this ban, it has been done in the entire Municipal area for the sale of raw meat. In that, all the shops will be shifted." However, meat traders who have been running their businesses for several years have strongly opposed the move. They argue that the new location is far from the city and is surrounded by unhygienic conditions, including proximity to a cremation ground. They fear that shifting the meat market to this area will lead to significant financial losses. One of the meat shop owners said, "Customers would have to pay for travel, which might be denied by the rickshaw pullers due to traffic in the area. There is a Shamshan Ghat (cremation ground) nearby, and this type of shop doesn't work near that place. We gave an application regarding this to the DM as well." Another shop owner also claimed that there are concerns regarding the area and the cremation ground nearby. "There is a NOC from Municipal Corporation that meat shops should be far away from temples, mosques, Gurudwara, and Samshan. There is a Shamshan wall on the side (of the new meat shop area). They are not sticking to their own decision," he alleged. He also called for better organisation for handling different types of meat. (ANI)
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