Delhi: MCD proposes new policy on meat shops

The new policy proposes to fix a standard minimum distance of 150m between religious places and meat shops

The veterinary department of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed a new unified meat shop licensing policy to remove the variations in the licensing fee and regulations that existed among the erstwhile north, south and east corporations.

The new policy aims to provide uniform rules for setting up meat shops in Delhi after the three civic bodies were unified. (HT photo)

The proposed policy is likely to be taken up in the next house meeting of councillors on Friday, senior MCD officials aware of the development said, adding that the proposed regulations will not be applicable on shops that are already running as per previously approved regulations. .

One of these senior officials said the new policy proposes to fix a standard minimum distance of 150m between religious places and meat shops. “The standard regulation is based on south MCD’s policy, which prescribed a distance was 150m between religious places and meat shops. In the case of north and east MCD, the distance varied from 50-100m, depending on the direction of the meat shops,” the official said, asking not to be named.

The religious places category includes temples, gurdwara, cremation and burial grounds. The proposal also states that a distance of 150m be maintained between mosques and pork shops while other meat shops may be permitted without a minimum prescribed distance with the consent of the mosque management committee.

The fee for getting a meat shop licence is also likely to go up in erstwhile east and north MCD areas, so as to bring the fee on par with that of south Delhi areas, a second official said, also on condition of anonymity.

Under Section 415 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, it is mandatory to obtain a licence from the civic body before opening any meat shop or meat processing plant. Licenses are provided by the corporation for running shops that sell sheep, buffalo, goat, chicken, and pork meat, besides fish.

“The new policy is being brought to reconcile the differences that had crept in during the trifurcation period. The house is expected to take it up on Friday,” the official said.