With Goa Meat Complex unable to supply, Margao meat stalls run dry during feast
Beef stalls remained shut due to supply shortage over the past three days.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Beef ran out of stock again at the cold storages and meat stalls at the SGPDA and other markets, leaving meat eaters high and dry.
Traders and cold storage owners claimed that the Goa Meat Complex could not supply them with their quota of meat, citing animal shortage.
Shoppers from Margao and Fatorda, who had gone to the SGPDA meat stalls and the cold storages on the eve of the Holy Spirit Church feast, had to return empty-handed.
The situation remained unchanged on Monday as well, with the traders and cold storage owners attributing it to a lack of supplies from the Goa Meat Complex.
A trader pointed out that the government ordered a crackdown on the entry of beef from across the borders on the eve of Bakri Eid, stopping all imports of beef for the last three days. On the other hand, the Goa Meat Complex could not meet the requirements of the traders as well as cold storage owners, resulting in a beef shortage.
What has left the traders and cold storage owners a disappointed lot is that there is no one to take up cudgels for them before the government for the resumption of beef supply.
“This is an artificial shortage. The GMC does not want to meet our requirements of beef, and at the same time, the government is hell-bent on stopping all supplies of the meat from across the border, creating a shortage,” remarked a cold storage owner.
A resident of Madel-Fatorda, Milagres Fernandes, criticised the timing of the shortage, particularly on the occasion of the feast of the Holy Spirit Church on Sunday. “Why should the people be deprived of consuming beef? Is the government aware of the ground situation where beef is not available even during festive seasons?” Milagres questioned.
A beef trader pointed out that the Director of Animal Husbandry, Dr Nitin Naik, had issued a circular to the authorities to ensure there is no import of beef by unauthorised persons from unauthorised sources.
He stated that the circular had called for the confiscation of all such meat, with directions to the officers in charge to file an FIR at the jurisdictional police station.
