In my teenage years, the Dal Lake Boulevard was my escape. Evenings meant a ride with friends, ending with sizzling tujj, fluffy chatnis, or a fragrant plate of biryani. Food was joy, and I never questioned what was on my plate.
That changed one morning when I couldn’t get out of bed. My joints burned, and after three days of rest, the pain only worsened. A uric acid test—done at home for a staggering Rs. 1,200—confirmed dangerously high levels.
The medicine I took brought no relief. I remembered buying the same drug outside Kashmir once—it had worked in days. This time, nothing changed. When I mentioned it to the pharmacist, he blamed the weather. But the thought gnawed at me: was the medicine counterfeit? Perhaps one day we will know the truth about Srinagar’s pharmacies too.
Eventually, after a long struggle, medication put me back on my feet. But months later, another barbeque night sent me crashing down again. I gave up meat altogether. My health rebounded, my blood pressure eased, and the aches vanished.
Then I learned the truth: much of Srinagar’s meat supply was rotten—possibly for years. Yet in this city, restaurant food is a badge of pride. Hosting guests? Order from the most popular eatery. Too tired to cook? Bring home “ready-made.” No one asks where the meat comes from—or how long it has been dead.
Recently, the Food Safety Department exposed the problem. The evidence was ugly. But the uglier part? No arrests. No fines. No closures. The same suppliers operate freely. The same restaurants serve without shame.
This is not a hygiene lapse—it’s a public health crisis. And it survives on collective apathy. Officials look the other way, businesses chase profit, and we, the consumers, keep eating in willful ignorance.
In a region where demand for meat is exceptionally high, the recent seizure of truckloads of rotten meat has set off alarm bells. Authorities intercepted the consignment during routine checks, but fears remain that a significant quantity had already entered local markets.
Health experts warn that decomposed meat can cause severe food poisoning, gastrointestinal infections, even life-threatening complications. “The scale of the seizure suggests this may not be an isolated incident,” said one senior official, hinting at a deeper supply-chain rot.
Public outrage has surged, with calls for stricter inspections, harsher penalties, and an overhaul of meat supply monitoring. But outrage fades fast, and without action, nothing changes.
Because the truth is, rotten meat is not just on our plates—it’s embedded in the system.
