Daily Times

LAHORE: The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has failed to ensure the implementation of new hygienic chicken slaughtering system across the city, Daily Times has learnt.

In January 2016, the city government took initiative to introduce the new system to overcome the unhygienic issues.

According to data, over 2000 chicken meat shops are running in the city. Only 25 to 30 percent shops are using the new system introduced by the district administration.

Chicken is a mostly staple food item of our daily dining table. However, most of the chicken sellers still use the blue. They put the hen in the drums after slaughtering which is a health hazard for chicken users. Initially, the plastic fibre drums were used to hold toxic chemicals and it is a fact that plastic or fibre cannot be sterilised and toxic residue of the chemicals remain embedded in the drums even after being washed.

The CDGL had taken action against the shopkeepers and inspected shops in the start of the campaign. However, after a passage of few months the district administration retreated from its stance.

Talking to Daily Times, shopkeepers said the size of steel cone provided by the CDGL was not accurate for chicken slaughtering.

To a question, they said that area officers did not issue tickets, adding that they also informed the chicken sellers before a crackdown, because they are bribed on a regular basis.

Citizens told Daily Times that a majority of people are unaware of the new slaughtering system and shopkeepers are taking the advantage of this. They said the government should educate the citizens before introducing a new system. They also said that the officials concerned should force shopkeepers to display the chart about the hygienic slaughtering system.

Muhammad Ali, a Lahori, said the Punjab government always presented Lahore as a role model and tried to impress other political parties by introducing new and novice projects such as Metro Bus and Orange Line Metro Train. He said further a huge amount of budget is spent on the ongoing city’s project. He lamented that the performance of district administration has gone from bad to worse and officials concerned do not pay any attention to the health issue.

District Officer Food Chaudhry Ayub said new slaughtering system has been installed at 80 percent shops. He said the remaining 20 percent shops would also adopt the system soon. He said their teams were taking stern action against violators.

To a question, he said that they have only provided design and specifications to chicken sellers. He also said that chicken sellers could be fined up to Rs 3,000, adding that an FIR could also be registered against the violators. Chaudhry said further the blue drums were used for waste only.