Crackdown on illegal camel meat sellers

HYDERABAD: As the month of Ramzan neared closure on Tuesday, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) booked 12 cases against owners of camel-meat shops in Old City for selling of camel meat without required permission. A team of GHMC officials is likely to book some more cases on Wednesday.During the month of Ramzan, hordes of camels are brought and slaughtered here. Camel meat is a delicacy among people during the month and traders cash in on this by selling the meat at high prices. But according to the GHMC Act 1955, traders have to get prior permission before bringing domesticated animals into the GHMC region for slaughtering. But many traders do not register their camels and a lot of meat shop owners fail to take permission from GHMC, said P Venkateshwar Reddy, chief veterinary officer of GHMC.According to a report by a wildlife NGO, People For Animals, as many as 417 camels have been slaughtered in the city since the first week of August. Many more were kept ready for slaughter. GHMC would seize camels which were brought here without permission. The camels were brought from Rajasthan and Gujarat a couple of months ago and sold at an auction in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. Each camel was sold between `40,000-`50,000 this year, said M Manish Singh, a camel trader from Rajasthan. A kilo of camel meat can cost up to `150-`200. The meat is sold in Dabeerpura, Shah Ali Banda, Hussaini Alam, Bandlaguda, Charminar, Doodh Bowli, Barkas, Misri Gunj, Riyasatnagar etc. The outlets display the raw meat prominently with a lot of decorations, he added. Mahesh Agarwal, a member of People For Animals, alleged that the illegal trade of camels and sale of camel meat was going on at a large scale at Narsingi near Agricultural Market Committee yard. He felt it was ridiculous that the GHMC had waited till the end of Ramzan month to take action. He added that slaughtering of camels is illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Further, there are no camel slaughter houses with proper facilities in South India as camel is not a notified animal for slaughter here, he said. “Therefore, we request the government to take action against the illegal traders under PCA Act-1960 and the remaining camels to be sent back to their residence states,” Mahesh said.

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