PANAJI: After nearly four years of being shut, the Goa Meat Complex is set to restart operations from next month onwards.
The directorate of animal husbandry and veterinary services (AHVS) is tentatively eyeing July 10, which falls a week prior to Eid ul Zuha (Bakri Eid), to reopen the Usgao-based abattoir.
“The Goa Meat Complex has been non-operational since September 2017.
We have all our permits in place and can reopen.
The state government has invested over Rs 1 crore to modernise the abattoir and carry out repairs,” sources from AHVS said.
The state-level meeting held before Eid ul Zuha every year to discuss qurbani, which is also attended by the chief minister, will be held before July 10.
“All arrangements have been made for the animals to be brought to the Goa Meat Complex for slaughter.
Operations will commence, not only for qurbani, but will be carried out on a regular basis,” sources said.
Though the abattoir had closed for repairs, several hurdles with respect to licensing, repairs and protests by NGOs delayed the reopening.
In 2016 there was a high court directive that the Goa Meat Complex must be made fully functional to provide services to meat traders in the state so that they could bring animals there for slaughter.
The directorate of animal husbandry and veterinary services is liable to face contempt of court for not making the abattoir functional.
While the licenses that had expired were re-applied for and approved, another hurdle arose when the compressor of the chilling plant broke down after not being in use since 2017.
“The traders require the transportation truck to reach across meat markets in Goa by 7am.
Since the animals are slaughtered in the morning, by the time the meat is processed, it would reach the markets only by afternoon.
The high court directed us to solve this problem by making the chilling plant functional.
The animal will be slaughtered the previous day and the meat will reach the markets early,” sources said.
Accordingly, the chilling plant has been repaired, in addition to other minor repairs at the abattoir.
Goa’s daily beef demand stands at around 10-15 tonnes, while currently only two tons of fresh meat is being sourced from Karnataka and brought to Goa by the meat traders.
The AHVS is looking at slaughtering at least 30 animals per day at the abattoir to meet Goa’s local demand.
The plant also has provisions to process meat for export.
“Currently the live cattle market at Belagavi is closed due to the Covid-19 lockdown there.
Once it opens, we will be able to purchase the animals and bring them to Goa for slaughter,” Quraishi Meat Traders’ Association general secretary Anwar Bepari said.
Meat traders in Goa are currently worried about a threat to their business due to the ordinance given in the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020, where cattle cannot be slaughtered or transported for slaughter.
If Karnataka decides to implement it, even the fresh beef coming from the neighbouring state will stop.
The meat traders have taken up the responsibility of sourcing animals from other states and have contacted an agent to bring these animals to Goa.
Once they enter the Goa border, they expect cooperation from the police, AHVS and transport department.
“As long as these animals are being brought following the rules of the Goa Animal Preservation Act 1995 and the Goa, Daman and Diu Slaughter Act, 1978, no activist or anyone else can stop the animals from coming in,” an AHVS official said.
After 4 years, Goa meat complex may open this July
