Gurugram civic body seals 63 unauthorised meat shops, levies penalties of ₹31,500

The MCG had sealed 37 meat shops on Friday on Khandsa Road, Laxmi Garden, Sector 12 A, New Railway Road, Rajiv Nagar, and Devilal Colony, while levying a fine of ₹18,500 on the owners cumulatively.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) sealed 63 unauthorised meat shops across various locations in the city, including Basai Road, Basai Chowk, Kamla Nehru Market, New Railway Road, Rajiv Nagar, Kadipur, Pataudi Road, and, Sheetla Mata Colony on Saturday. Officials said that they levied penalties amounting to ₹31,500 on the shopkeepers.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) sealed 63 unauthorised meat shops across various locations in the city.(HT File Photo)

This move comes a day after a right-wing group had submitted a memorandum to MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav, asking for the closure of meat shops during Navratri. MCG officials, however, distanced themselves from the memorandum, and said they had only sealed “unauthorised” meat shops, notices for which had been sent to the owners since February.

“Our action against meat shops is an ongoing process. The MCG has been regularly sending notices to unauthorised meat shop owners to stop their operations or else face penalties and sealing. Those shop owners, who did not comply, were levied a penalty of ₹500 under Section 329 of the Haryana Municipal Act on Saturday after their shops were sealed. MCG’s actions have nothing to do with the memorandum as the legal proceedings against violators had been in the pipeline since February,” said Ashish Singla, medical officer of the MCG.

The MCG had sealed 37 meat shops on Friday on Khandsa Road, Laxmi Garden, Sector 12 A, New Railway Road, Rajiv Nagar, and Devilal Colony, while levying a fine of ₹18,500 on the owners cumulatively.

“The drive will continue on a large scale till Monday. In the interim, for public interest we have also appealed to the 129 licensed meat shop owners to close their shops during Navratri,” said Singla, adding that the MCG did not have any estimates regarding the number of unauthorised meat shops operating in the city. A senior MCG official explained the reason behind this phenomenon.

“We have realised that despite sealing shops of unauthorised meat owners, many return to the business within a short span of time either under a new name or start operations at a new location altogether,” said the official.

There have been many incidents of forcible closure of meat shops in the city over the last three years. In March 2017, some Hindu groups had forced around 300 meat shops and an international food outlet to shut during the festival period.

In September 2017, they had forcibly shut down meat shops in Sector 13. In October 2018, meat shops were forcibly closed in Rajiv Colony, Sadar Bazar, Badshahpur, Fazilpur, Ashok Vihar, Jharsa, Basai and Daulatabad. A meat shop owner was allegedly manhandled as well. Subsequently five members of these groups were arrested by the Gurugram police.