Meat crisis gripped Lucknow on Saturday when dealers and suppliers of Mutton and chicken announced indefinite strike to oppose UP government's crackdown on unlicensed slaughterhouses and meat shops.
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The associations also announced that their counterparts in other parts of the state may join the strike by the evening. The supply of buffalo meat has already stopped from Tuesday onward.
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The decision to stop supply was taken at a meeting of Lucknow Murga Mandi Samiti (LMMS) and Lucknow Murga Bakra Vyapar Kalyan Samiti (LMBVKS).
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LMMS represents over 50 wholesalers who supply broiler chicken to over 5,000 retailers, besides restaurants, hotels and small food joints. LMBVKS represents about 600 dealers who supply goats and broiler chicken to retailers, shops, restaurants and hotels in the entire city.
LMMS president Sanjay Saxena said that association members' application for a licence is gathering dust at Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) since 2014.
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"We were forced to work without a licence because LMC is neither issuing a fresh licence, not renewing old licences for the past three years. Our legal business turned illegal because of the apathy of the authorities and now the crackdown has hit our livelihood," Saxena said.