Dirty chicken cages and the smell of unkempt meat stalls mark the streets of Shivajinagar’s meat market. Decades of apathy and the unhygienic conditions of these stalls has finally led the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to say – no more.
The BBMP has ordered the meat stalls in Shivajinagar to shut shop until the vendors cleaned up and maintained their stalls in a hygienic manner, Deccan Chronicle reported.
The Palike’s Joint Commissioner, Sarfaraz Khan, conducted surprise checks during his free time, on Monday morning.
“I was so shocked to see how dirtily kept the places were. There was absolutely no hygiene maintained. There is no proper system to dispose the waste meat. I immediately ordered the market to close down till the meat vendors cleared the mess,” Sarfaraz Khan said.
The BBMP had received multiple complaints from residents of the area that the meat sold is three or four days old.
“This was one of the surprise visits I conducted. Looking at the level of maintenance, the residents’ complaints may be true. I have asked BBMP officials to probe the matter and see if old meat is being sold,” Khan added.
The Joint Commissioner said that he was shocked to see that none of them had invested in installing dustbins to throw away the waste.
“Waste meat is just haphazardly thrown on the streets or the street corner. It’s just filled with garbage. I have ordered the meat shop owners to shut down and clean up their stalls before beginning operations,” he said.
Similarly, the Palike will crack the whip on Russel Market, KR Market and Johnson market. Sarfaraz Khan said that he would conduct surprise visits to these markets or send BBMP officials to do so.
“All these markets will be monitored regularly. If anyone is found operating under unhygienic conditions and not disposing animal waste properly, strict action will be taken. This is dangerous not only for the person working in such conditions but also to the consumers,” Khan added.