Easy meat

On March 3, 2015, the local journals published a news item about the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) team confiscating 750 kgs of substandard meat. Reportedly, this was meat of unhealthy and dead animals which was being transported to Lahore from Chishtian, near Bahawalpur. On a tip-off, the team intercepted the vehicle carrying the supply near Sherakot and caught it.

So far, so good. What was mentioned in the later lines was alarming. It was reported that the seized meat was dumped in the Ravi river close by.

One wonders whether this is the only way to discard substandard meat. Whether the concerned authorities are sure such acts do not pollute the already contaminated water bodies is another question that comes to mind.

Sources in Punjab Livestock Department and the CDGL agree that confiscated meat is often discarded in the river. Besides, they say they pour phenyl on it to make the meat unfit for human consumption and stop its pilferage.

The sources further say the confiscated meat is also burnt in the incinerator installed at the Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMCO) slaughterhouse in Shahpur Kanjran, Lahore. But this, they say, happens in cases of large recoveries; the small caches in distant localities are disposed off in traditional way.

Sardar Asif Ali Sial, Chairman, Access to Environmental Justice Committee of Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) terms the act a violation of environmental laws that prohibits a wilful contamination of water bodies.

He says the practice would be termed a nuisance and prohibited by the district government under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). "Although the river water is used primarily for agricultural purposes, that of the Ravi is consumed for drinking by people living in the Maja Khari area in the outskirts of Lahore."

Sial condemns the act of throwing expired and/or rotten meat in the river, saying it may float on water and give off an unbearable stench. The water thus polluted enters the streams and recharges underground water table at different places, rendering it impure.

It is worth mentioning here that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet, in its September 2, 2015 meeting, slapped a ban on the export of donkey hides. The reason quoted was the absence of a proper regulatory mechanism in the provinces to look at the proper disposal of carcasses of animals. Even the Punjab law on slaughtering does not prescribe a clear-cut mechanism.

Against this backdrop, TNS asked the government officials about the progress. Dr Rahat Ali, Deputy District Officer (DO), Food Safety, at Punjab Livestock Department said the procedure followed in the past had been abandoned and the confiscated meat was now burnt in the incinerator installed at the PAMCO slaughterhouse.

"The confiscated meat is transported to the slaughterhouse in Shahpur Kanjran and proper receipts are maintained to ensure there is no pilferage of meat by the department staff.

"In addition to the unhealthy meat, the department also seizes meat of animals slaughtered outside the approved slaughterhouse. This meat is also destroyed because the animals slaughtered for the purpose are not presented before the veterinary doctors for ante-mortem inspection. Though the sellers of meat of illegally slaughtered animals contest this, the department has adopted a zero tolerance policy to create deterrence among them."

Under the law, "Any person intending to slaughter an animal in slaughter-house shall produce the animal in the stock yard for examination at any time during the hours fixed by the local authority concerned for inspection… After examination of any such animal, the Veterinary Officer may approve it for slaughter."

Dr Asif Sahi, a senior veterinary officer in Punjab Livestock Department, is of the view that the concept of food security is not complete without food safety, something that must be ensured at every cost. For this reason, the concerned departments are active at the moment and not sparing the violators.

When queried, Sahi defended the drive against illegal slaughtering and said it was not against any person or property. "If one visits illegal slaughterhouses, one finds animals are slaughtered at places that are polluted with blood, intestinal contents and effluents. There, even the meat of a healthy animal slaughtered may become harmful and worthy of destruction but in an environment-friendly way."

Younas Zahid, District Environment Officer (DEO), Lahore said it was he who had taken up the matter with the current Secretary Livestock Naseem Sadiq.

He claimed he had objected to the disposal of infected meat in Ravi river and requested the secretary to stop his staff from doing so. The secretary took immediate action and bound the staff to get the confiscated meat destroyed via the only incinerator installed at the slaughterhouse.

According to Zahid, phenyl is poured on meat to make it misfit for human consumption and save it from theft by the department staff. "There was a time when illegal but healthy meat would be auctioned and sometimes even bought at throwaway prices by the same butchers from whom it was confiscated. It is not possible now."

He also spoke of another practice -- "the people, including the butchers, retrieve the discarded meat from the Ravi once the government officers leave, and sell it again to retailers or directly to the customers."