00:00Breaking news coming in from Kashmir where it seems that a rotten meat scandal is shaking the Kashmir tourism industry and the restaurant business.
00:1012,000 kgs of rotten meat, decayed fish and chicken has been seized and then later destroyed.
00:19This was all related to the restaurants that were selling this meat and now it seems that there is a loss of about 80% of business in that area.
00:28It is also said there is a possibility of dog and donkey meat also being served in Kashmir eateries.
00:36This is a huge allegation that is being put right now.
00:39Srinagar's barbecue street due to this is now deserted.
00:44Now Meer Fareed, India Today's correspondent brings you more details on this entire issue.
00:49Watch.
00:51Now in the khayam area of Srinagar and this is the barbecue street.
00:56It's also called the barbecue street of Kashmir and this restaurant, the normal days, maybe one month back if you would have come here,
01:04there you wouldn't find a seat to sit, tables would have been occupied but today it's deserted, there is no one around.
01:11Courtesy, the rotten meat scandal of Kashmir, a scandal that has blown up literally in the last 15 days.
01:19All over social media where food safety department conducted raids, there was a raid on a warehouse, they found rotten meat frozen for days and then also meat that probably was not mutton, it was not chicken, it was something else.
01:37And as that news spread, the trust of the people on these food outlets just vanished.
01:44When today this incident was so hard that some people went down to the streets, some people had to show their certificates, some people had to show their certificates, some people had to go very high.
01:56But the question is, that the time they were trying to put a stone on the wall, now they were trying to put a stone on the wall.
02:05And India Today's Meert Fareed joins us with the latest details in this issue.
02:24Meert, how was this happening and what are the actions that the authorities are taking currently?
02:35Well, there have been raids left, right and centre and it started with one such raid of the food safety department, rotten meat was recovered, meat was stored in unhygienic conditions and seemed to be months old.
02:50And as that news spread, there was mayhem, people reacted angrily on social media and then the food safety department conducted more such raids.
02:59And as slowly the layers came up, it was clear that it was not just restricted to a certain area, but the whole of Kashmir was seeing rotten meat being supplied from various parts of the country.
03:13And there were people who were serving at restaurants and then we know there was a social media debate and people just reacted angrily.
03:22There were theories and then rumours that even dog and donkey meat was being supplied to some restaurants and that obviously led to a furore and people then in unanimous bycotted these restaurants.
03:35Today the situation is that there is an 85% decline in restaurant business.
03:41People are just not visiting eateries.
03:43Their trust has been completely shaken.
03:45And then you also have to understand that Kashmir is a Muslim majority place.
03:49So it is somewhere connected to the faith.
03:53The people say that even that has been attacked in many ways when you see rumours of dog meat, donkey meat being served.
04:01And then you had processed meat especially where the food safety department found that it was days old and there was absolutely no certification as to what was the source of that meat.
04:13And then right now more such rates are happening, arrests have been made.
04:18But still people believe that the kingpins, the people, the mafia was running it, the big fish are still out of the authorities net, the law enforcers net.
04:27And more needs to be done to get to the bottom and unearth this completely.
04:32Because what has happened till now is just the tip of the iceberg.
04:35Absolutely and it is about the health of the people, health of not just the tourists but also the locals who order or eat at these places.
04:43So finally action is being taken and criminal cases are also being filed.
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