Subscribe
Chicken shops across Bengaluru are likely to remain shut for two days from September 3, as poultry traders protest a proposed fee for animal waste collection.
The Karnataka Poultry Traders Association (KPTA) has called for a bandh on September 3 and 4 against the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML) plan to introduce a citywide animal waste collection and processing system.
The association has appealed to poultry shop owners to close their establishments on both days and join a protest at Freedom Park from 10 am. The traders have demanded that the proposed Rs 5 per kg service fee be withdrawn.
Under the proposed system, BSWML will oversee the doorstep collection, transportation and scientific processing of poultry, fish, pig and other animal waste generated across Bengaluru’s five city corporations. Meat and poultry shops will have to hand over their waste only to service providers authorised by BSWML.
A GBA tender notification states that establishments generating animal waste will have to pay Rs 5 per kg for animal waste and Rs 3 per kg for animal bone waste to the authorised service providers.
Poultry traders have opposed the charges, arguing that animal waste has commercial value and should instead be purchased from them. The KPTA has demanded that a minimum support price be fixed for poultry waste.
“Waste such as intestines, skin, and bones is taken by private companies, which process it into powder and use it to make products such as dog and cat food. They earn from these products. At present, middlemen collect the waste from us and earn from it, while the companies also make a profit from the final product using our raw material,” the association said.
According to the association, a chicken shop generates around 32 kg to 35 kg of such waste on average. It argued that private companies should pay shops for the waste instead of charging them for its collection.
The traders have also warned that the proposed fee would increase the operating costs of poultry shops. They said shopkeepers could be forced to raise chicken prices to recover the additional expense if their demand for a minimum support price is not accepted.
The proposed waste management system is aimed at addressing Bengaluru’s unregulated disposal of animal waste. BSWML has said the city generates nearly 200 tonnes of animal waste every day, some of which is currently dumped in public places and drains. The new system is intended to ensure that such waste is collected, transported and scientifically processed rather than disposed of in an unregulated manner.
