TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Even a week after the High Court lifted a ban on cattle slaughter at the Goa Meat Complex albeit with stringent conditions, there is no beef in the markets with traders complaining that as long as the ban on bringing in cattle from the neighbouring states for slaughter continues, beef will continue to be scarce.
The high price of fish in the market owing to scarce catch is ruining the merry holiday season and the NRI reunions.
Beef stalls at the Mapusa as well as Panjim markets were shut for the third consecutive week following the ban.
“We are forced to eat bland veg food, fish is expensive, beef is unavailable and how much of the insipid steroid injected chicken can we eat,” Fatima de Souza a housewife said speaking to Herald.
Meanwhile, the Beef Traders Association has filed an intervention petition in the High Court and is expected to come up for hearing on Tuesday, along with the main application.
Traders are asking that they be allowed to purchase meat from outside the state.
Speaking to Herald, Lyndon Monteiro the chairman of the Goa Meat Complex said that there are court guidelines which he was strictly following.
He admitted that the meat traders were not bringing animals to be slaughtered at the Complex, possibly due to the unavailability of animals or because of the fear amongst the traders owing to the ongoing situation.
Meanwhile fish prices continued to remain high with the trawler owners attributing it to the scarce catch as well as unavailability of the ‘good variety fish’ in the sea.
