Overview
- The Varanasi Municipal Corporation approved the relocation plan this week, and officials identified five candidate sites on the outskirts: Ramnagar, Sujabad, Ganeshpur, Awaleshpur and Shivpur.
- Civic leaders gave a provisional schedule that work will begin within about one to one-and-a-half months and aim to finish in six to seven months so shifts can occur before the holy month of Sawan.
- Municipal public relations officials estimate roughly 350 to 400 meat, fish and poultry shops currently operate inside the city and would be moved to the new markets.
- Traders and opposition parties have protested the decision, saying they were not consulted and warning of income loss for shop owners, workers and supply-chain staff with one association estimating up to about 20,000 livelihoods linked to the trade.
- Trade groups have offered alternatives such as centralized slaughterhouses, enclosed refrigerated retail units and restricted zones near temple routes, and the administration says it will conduct surveys and consultations before final allotments and implementation.