Vendors In Varanasi Fear For Livelihoods As Meat Shops Set To Move To The Margins

and fish shops outside the city limits, a move officials say will preserve the city’s religious sanctity but which has left local vendors fearing for their livelihoods.

Sitting at his five-decade-old meat shop near Golghar in Orderly Bazar, Kamaruddin Quereshi’s hands move in a familiar rhythm — chopping, weighing and packing meat for his loyal clientele. But behind the routine lies a deep anxiety.

“This decision is neither good for traders nor customers. Our shop has become a brand in these many years. If it is relocated, my shop will lose its identity as well as its customers. Secondly, we will have to start from scratch,” he said.

His customers too are not in favour of the decision. Lallu Singh, a resident of Khajuri, said: “The shop is about 2 km from my house. It is easily accessible, I can reach here in 5 minutes. After shifting, I will have to travel around 4 km or more to fetch meat,” he added.

Varanasi mayor Ashok Tiwari said: “VNN is going to establish meat, fish and chicken shops at five locations on the outskirts of the city. We will complete this work in six months. The shops will be built and given to traders.”

He emphasised: “We are going to establish, not relocate these shops. All facilities with special focus on cleanliness and hygiene will be there at the five locations.”

He defended VNN’s decision, saying devotees come to Varanasi for “darshan and poojan and they don’t come here to see meat shops.”

Senior BJP worker Ashwini Pandey said, “Shifting shops will hardly have any impact on meat trade. Consumers will buy it from the outskirts of the city.”

Tourism Welfare Association (TWA), Varanasi, president Rahul Mehta welcomed the VNN’s decision to relocate meat shops, saying: “It is needed as a large number of pilgrims come to the city for Kashi Vishwanath Dham and other important temples and don’t like to see open meat shops. Preserving the city’s religious sanctity and improving urban sanitation are required,” he asserted.

Sitting at Assi Ghat, Pt Vinay Kumar Pandey, a priest who attends his ‘yajmaan’ (pilgrims), is happy over the decision. “The decision is as per the dignity of the city...what will VNN do with hotels, dhabas and many roadside eateries where non-vegetarian food is served,” he asked.

“Hotels and dhabas serving meat will continue to do so...then what purpose will the shifting serve,” asked Sunil Kumar, a vegetarian resident of Kashi, who is neither pro nor against the decision.

Keshav Singh, a resident of Chandmari, said: “It is good to ban meat shops within 2 km periphery of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. But shifting all these shops outside the city will affect economically weaker section people. Once the shops are shifted, they will have to travel to city outskirts.”

Mufti-e-Banaras Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani is against shifting meat shops to the outskirts.

“The decision will create problems for sellers and buyers. Many of these shops are based in lanes, many others along roads and streets. Each shop has a set of fixed customers. As soon as these shops are shifted, vendors will lose customers, and customers will lose their trusted shops,” he said.

“Those who took the decision to shift meat shops should also get all wine shops and bars in the city shut,” he added.

Saurabh Singh, who runs a dhaba seving handi mutton near Varuna Bridge, said the decision has left him concerned. “We get mutton from a shop near Kutchehary daily. From my dhaba, it is less than 1 km away. After shops are shifted, I will have to travel at least 4 to 5 km to get meat.”

The roadmap to shift meat shops was approved at a VNN House meeting presided over by mayor Ashok Tiwari on June 6. The shops are proposed to be shifted to five locations on the outskirts –Ramnagar, Sujabad, Ganeshpur, Awaleshpur and Shivpur area in the first phase. The locations have been selected in such a way that they are accessible to people.

While informing the VNN House, municipal commissioner Himanshu Nagpal said: “The five locations have already been selected for the first phase of this scheme. All these sites are situated near the city’s outskirts to ensure that the general public faces no inconvenience.”

Roughly 450 meat shops in city areas are under the VNN. These include retail ones and around 30 wholesale outlets.

A group of social activists staged a protest against the VNN’s decision to shift all city-based meat shops to the outskirts and marched from the Kutchehary intersection to the district magistrate’s office. They submitted a memorandum, addressed to the DM, to sub divisional magistrate Shivani Singh, demanding that the decision be withdrawn immediately.

The protestors said if this decision is not reconsidered, they will be compelled to take to streets and intensify the agitation.

They alleged that shifting shops is a conspiracy to cripple meat trade and snatch livlihood of poor shopkeepers. “This decision, taken without any prior consultation or dialogue, is undemocratic,” they claimed.

Sudhir Kumar is Varanasi based senior staff correspondent.He covers all developments, politics, education--primary, secondary and higher -- crime, offbeat, tribes and human angle stories