The Varanasi Municipal Corporation has decided to shift all meat and fish shops operating within the city limits to designated locations on the outskirts as part of efforts to improve urban management and cleanliness, officials said on Sunday.
The proposal was approved at a meeting of the municipal corporation's governing body held at the Town Hall building in Maidagin on Saturday under the chairmanship of Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Public Relations Officer Sandeep Srivastava said.
Srivastava said extensive discussions were held on various aspects of the city's development, during which members endorsed the plan to relocate meat and fish markets to the city's peripheral areas in a systematic manner.
Municipal Commissioner Himanshu Nagpal informed the House that five locations have been identified in the first phase of the project.
The sites are situated close to the city's outer limits to minimise inconvenience to residents, he said.
Under the plan, meat and fish shops currently operating within the city will be shifted to Ramnagar, Sujabad, Ganeshpur, Avleshpur and Shivpur in the coming days, officials said.
The move is aimed at improving sanitation and streamlining the functioning of such markets while ensuring continued access to consumers, they added.
Srivastava said that around 350 to 400 meat and fish shops are currently operating within the city limits.
During the meeting, corporator Gulshan Ali said a proposal to shift meat and fish shops outside the city limits had been brought nearly a year ago, but was yet to be implemented effectively.
Referring to concerns raised by traders, Ali said the annual closure of meat shops during the holy month of Shravan severely affects the livelihood of people engaged in the meat business.
Responding to the issue, the Municipal Commissioner assured the House that land has already been identified on the city's outskirts and the process of implementing the proposal will begin soon.
Ashraf, who runs a meat shop in Nathupur, said relocating meat and fish shops outside the city would cause considerable inconvenience to both traders and customers.
He said people would have to travel outside the city for their daily purchases, resulting in additional expenditure of both time and money.
"We want the administration to find a practical solution keeping in mind the convenience of traders as well as the general public," he said.