Delhi may go meatless as butchers intensify stir

Butchers and meat traders of Delhi continued their strike for the fourth day Monday, officials said. They are protesting the shifting of the capital's slaughterhouse from the heart of the city to an edge.

The Delhi Meat Association said it would continue the strike till the authorities revoke the decision. Chicken and fish sellers have also extended support and may join the strike Tuesday, it said.

The centuries-old abattoir next to Idgah near the walled city was closed down on Thursday following a Supreme Court order after a five-year legal battle between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the meat traders' association.

The new slaughterhouse built in Ghazipur, east Delhi, is high-tech, but has been criticised because it is next to a sanitary landfill site.

"The strike is going to continue till the authorities roll back their decision. A meeting with the chicken and fish sellers is on and from tomorrow they are expected to join the strike," Mohammad Asif, president of the New Delhi Meat Traders's Association, said.

 "We are ready for a debate anywhere with the corporation and if anyone can prove that we are wrong then we will do what they want us to. It is completely unhygienic at Ghazipur. Ask the authorities to send a team of doctors to Ghazipur and prove if it is possible to work there. The working conditions are so bad," Asif said.