Meat shops in Mumbai to lose licence if they don't dispose waste properly

In order to control the increasing number of bird hit cases, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's markets department will inspect meat shops in the vicinity of the international airport in Santacruz, to ensure they are dumping their garbage properly in closed bins.

"We had already served notices to several meat shops around the airport, following a series of meetings with airport authorities. Most of them are located in H-East and L wards (covering Santacruz and Kurla)," a senior markets department official said. Most of the shops are located within 10-km of the airport.

"We will carry out inspections to check if these shops are dumping waste properly. If not, we would cancel their licences," the official said.

The Bombay high court had recently directed the BMC to come up with a way to keep a check on the garbage dumped in a 10-km radius around the airport. The court order came after a petition by Datta Mane sought cancellation of licences of Deonar abattoir and removal of all dumping areas within a 10-km radius of the airport.

As per the petition, even though the abattoir doesn't come in the immediate vicinity of the airport, the increasing number of bird-hit cases is a result of the improper disposal of waste. Most of the meat shops have been disposing of carcasses of slaughtered animals around the airport, which attracts birds. As a result, there was an increase in cases of bird hits, compromising the safety of lakhs of daily air commuters.

The BMC had issued notices to all the six meat shops in H East ward. The L ward, however, has the maximum number of such shops.

"There are several fish vendors in that area, who dispose of the waste in open bins. That attracts crows and birds. We are guiding them to dispose of their rubbish in plastic bags and closed bins only," the official said.