Smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh is solely to blame for the rise in the price of beef in Meghalaya, the Khasi Jaiñtia Butchers’ Welfare Association (KJBWA) said today.
KJBWA President, Generous Warlarpih, however, said that the association had nothing to do with yesterday’s announcement whereby some butchers announced on social media that beef will now cost Rs 450 per kilogramme (with bones) and Rs 600 per kg (boneless).
“In 2019 the KJBWA decided that it will not fix the price of beef as the price of cattle increases everyday because of unchecked smuggling activities,” Warlarpih told Highland Post.
Nevertheless, the increase in the price for consumers is inevitable because of the cattle smuggling into Bangladesh.
“The cattle requirement in the entire Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills is around 2,500 to 3,000 a week. However, these days the butchers cannot even procure 500 cattle a week while there are around 5,000 cattle smuggled into Bangladesh every week, especially through Muktapur-Rymbai,” he stated.
This smuggling is facilitated by powerful people in the state, he alleged, pointing to the weaknesses in controlling the trade of cattle.
“The fact that anyone can buy cattle just by producing an EPIC card without any restriction, it is obvious that the rules were made in such a way that no one will know where the cattle are taken after being bought in Khanapara (where the big cattle market is),” Warlarpih said.
The KJBWA has been demanding that all cattle screened by the Veterinary Department should proceed directly to the slaughterhouse in Mawlai Mawioing.
“The Rs 22 crore slaughterhouse at Mawïong is deteriorating because there is an inadequate number of cattle being slaughtered there while the butchers have to pay the electricity bill, which is never less than Rs 1.5 lakh in a month. This is pure injustice,” he said.
