LUCKNOW: In consonance with a resolution passed by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) in mid-January, civic authorities got around 26 meat shops, situated around the Kashi Vishwanath temple, sealed after declaring them illegal on Friday.
The drive to seal the meat shops around Kashi Vishwanath temple also covered Muslim-dominated Nai Sadak and Beniabagh, Sheikh Salim Phatak and Sarai Gowardhan, where despite protests by local residents, corporation teams enforced the order strictly.
Varanasi mayor Ashok Tiwari said the drive will continue till the 2-km periphery of the Kashi Vishwanath temple is free of meat shops.
VMC veterinary officer Dr Ajay Pratap Singh, who led the team to rid the 2-km periphery around the Kashi Vishwanath temple of meat shops, said that in compliance with the January 18 resolution passed by the corporation, the groundwork like inspection of shops and checking of documents had started in February.
“During the drive, over two dozen shops of chicken and mutton were found flouting the norms as they had not taken a ‘no-objection certificate’ from the food safety and drug administration and the VMC to run their shops,” said Singh, adding that on the basis of the outcome of the drive, notices were served on the owners a week ago to close their shops voluntarily.
However, on checking, none of the owners was found to be complying with the notice after which a team, led by Singh, raided the shops on Friday and got them sealed.
The owners even protested before the civic authorities saying their shops were decades old and shifting to new places would hurt their trade.
Earlier, on January 18, the VMC had unanimously passed a proposal that no meat and liquor shops would be allowed within two km radius of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Mayor Tiwari, who was presiding over the meeting, had approved the proposal. The prohibition on meat and liquor shops near the temple was proposed by the corporator of the Adi Vishveshwar Ward Indresh Kumar Singh under Section 91 (2) of the Municipal Corporation Act 1959.