Ripple effects of the crackdown on illegal abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh are being felt in West Bengal as the beef dealers here are complaining of a decline in business and exports.
The supply of meat, mostly buffalo meat, from Uttar Pradesh has come down to a great extent and as a result, the thriving beef-packaging industry here has been affected, Mohammed Ali, president of Calcutta Beef Dealers' Association, told PTI.
"In Bengal, we have a big industry where packaging of beef is done before exporting it to other countries. With the closure of the slaughterhouses, the entire beef chain has been badly hit," he said.
Ali also apprehended lay-offs in the near future as several people had become jobless in the last few days due to the dearth in supply of raw materials.
"Our dealers in Uttar Pradesh are unable to send buffaloes in trucks or trains as strict checking is going on, resulting in many small meat processing units in the state downing shutters. If this goes on for another week, there will be huge lay-offs in the meat processing and packaging sectors," he warned.
Ali said the beef dealers were contemplating meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to seek her intervention in the matter.
The crackdown on illegal abattoirs was one of the first decisions taken by the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, which was sworn-in on March 19 after the BJP swept the Assembly polls in that state.
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