UP: 2 slaughterhouses sealed soon after Adityanath takes office

Allahabad: Two slaughterhouses were sealed by the authorities in Allahabad on Sunday night, a development that comes within hours of BJP leader Yogi Adityanath taking over as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Almost an year ago the National Green Tribunal had ordered the closure of these two slaughterhouses, an official said.

"We sealed one slaughterhouse each in Atala locality of the city and at Naini, on the outskirts, last night. The NGT had ordered closure of these in May, 2016", the district's Veterinary Officer Dheeraj Goyal said.

He said the step was taken "following reports that though these slaughterhouses had been shown as shut on paper, business was running there as usual."

Goyal said that the NGT had similarly recommended closure of another slaughterhouse in the area but as there have been no reports of illegal business, his department had requested the police to keep a watch.

Significantly, the action was taken within hours of the swearing in of a new cabinet in Uttar Pradesh.

In his first press conference at Lucknow, the new Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asserted that his government will take steps to fulfil promises made regarding slaughterhouses by the BJP in the run up to the state assembly polls.

The BJP had announced, in its manifesto titled "Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra" that after coming to power it will take "stern steps for closing down all illegal slaughterhouses besides banning mechanized slaughterhouses".