NAROWAL, April 9: The district livestock department and Tehsil Municipal Administration have failed to ensure supply of hygienic and quality meat to people. A majority of butchers continue to slaughter animals at their homes and shops without any check and the newly-constructed abattoir is not in use.

Information gleaned by this correspondent revealed that people were using substandard meat owing to the negligence of the authorities concerned. The veterinary doctor who has been assigned duty to examine the animals before their slaughter and also meet quality before its sale, is not performing up to the mark.

It is learnt that a peon of the doctor goes to the homes and shops of butchers to stamp the meat, showing it as quality-tested and approved for human consumption.

Naveed Mughal, a resident of Narowal, told this correspondent that the butchers threw the waste in streets and drains after slaughtering the animals at their homes. Besides causing a nauseating stench, it was causing ailments among the people.

Rights activist Mian Muhammad Rafique said the TMA had spent Rs0.5 million on the construction of a new slaughterhouse on Rinsinwal Road outside the city but the butchers were not using that. “It seems that the butcher have some underhand deal with the TMA, livestock department and the veterinary doctor.

TMA official Mustafa Kamal Bhatti, however, said they had time and again asked the doctor to perform his duties honestly to make sure that people got quality meat.

According to District Officer (Livestock) Dr Muhammad Nayyar, the old abattoir building had been demolished and the TMA had not handed over the newly-constructed slaughterhouse to them so far. As a consequence, he said, the butchers had no option but to slaughter animals at their homes and shops.

He further said the municipal authorities paid only Rs800 a month to the veterinary doctor which was tantamount to making mockery of the profession. The TMA should appoint a separate veterinary doctor for the purpose from its own budget.

The citizens have appealed to the chief minister and the DCO Tahir Yousaf to take stock of the situation and order stern action against those responsible for the situation.