Headlines
Banned in Maharashtra, beef dries up in Goa too
Panaji, March 4
Banned in neighbouring
Maharashtra, beef is in short supply in Goa too with shops selling it
closed for the third day on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Goa
Meat Sellers Association said the shops were closed because of issues
related to short supply of the meat and harassment by animal rights
activists.
"Shops are closed for three days now due to short
supply and the ban in Maharashtra will only make things worse," Anwar
Bepari told IANS, even as beef sellers across the state are due to meet
Wednesday to discuss the shortage.
The shortage comes at the time
of Lent, a holy period when Christians, who account for 26 percent of
the state's population, tend to avoid the red meat.
Beef has been
a subject of controversy over the last few months with the government
cracking down on consignments of both, cuts of red meat and cattle for
slaughter, being illegally transported into the state from Karnataka and
Maharashtra.
Last month, animal rights activist Amrut Singh was
brutally assaulted, allegedly by beef traders from Belgaum in Karnataka
while he was tracking illegal transportation of beef from the
neighbouring state to Goa.
Singh has in the past been
instrumental in stopping several "illegal" consignments of beef from
Karnataka and Maharashtra, in co-operation with the police.
Bepari
now claims that such raids had bled the beef industry significantly,
especially because the state-run Goa Meat Complex, the only slaughter
house allowed to butcher cattle, is virtually non-operational due to
renovation.
"We are meeting the Goa Meat Complex chief to sort
this problem out. If cattle slaughter is allowed at the complex, then at
least we can get a small, but legal supply of meat in the market,"
Bepari said.