Seizure of rotten meat in Srinagar triggers public panic

Srinagar, Aug 3: The seizure of 1200 kg of rotten meat from an industrial unit in Zakura has sent shockwaves through Kashmir, exposing disturbing lapses in food regulation and triggering widespread public outrage.

The meat, discovered by the Food Safety Department inside a cold storage facility operating from a textile-designated industrial estate, was reportedly meant for supply to hotels and eateries across Kashmir.

The incident, while horrifying on its own, is being seen as a symptom of a much larger systemic failure, one that has left the region vulnerable to unchecked imports of frozen and processed meat with little to no oversight.

With no proper regulatory checks at entry points like Lakhanpur and an evident absence of coordination between food safety and industrial zoning authorities, the seizure has laid bare the grim realities of how high-risk perishables are entering the local supply chain.

The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), in a strongly worded statement, termed the incident a public health emergency in the making.

“It is both shocking and unacceptable that a facility dealing in perishable food was operating from a zone meant exclusively for textiles. Who permitted this? Were the requisite clearances in place? If not, who failed to enforce the norms?” KCCI President Javid Ahmad Tenga said.

He said that the seizure may not be an isolated case and called for an urgent probe into the entire frozen meat supply chain entering the region.

“There is a critical need to examine if these products are certified, documented, and verified before crossing into Kashmir. The fact that such a large consignment of rotten meat could make it this far undetected shows how broken the current system is,” Tenga said, demanding immediate and exemplary action against the unit holder.

Echoing the alarm, President of Jammu and Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (JKHARA), Babar Chowdhary, said the visuals of the seized meat were disturbing and raised serious doubts about the kind of raw materials entering the food business.

“The meat was not only spoiled, it looked like offcuts, full of fat and possibly discarded waste, possibly even unfit for animal consumption. It’s inhuman. Those behind this are playing with lives,” he said in a statement.

Chowdhary praised the officials involved in the raid and said their intervention may have saved hundreds of people from falling ill.

“Twelve quintals of meat – think about it. If even 40 or 50 gm is consumed per person, that’s thousands of people at risk. The implications are horrifying,” he said.

Calling for structural reforms, Chowdhary demanded a government-monitored helpline for reporting suspicious food, enhanced inspections, and tougher penalties for violators. “There should be standard operating procedures for handling meat, especially frozen products. Once defrosted, it must be used, not refrozen again and again. This is not just about commerce, it’s about human lives,” he said.

As consumer confidence plunges and sales across meat shops and food businesses take a hit, traders are left dealing with the fallout.

More critically, the episode has raised a fundamental question: “If 1200 kg of rotting meat can be stored and distributed without anyone noticing, what else is slipping through the cracks?”