Baramulla, Aug 09: Behind the glistening glass counters of Baramulla’s frozen meat shops lies a chilling secret — a booming underground trade in stale, rotting meat and fish that may already be on your plate.
An investigation by this correspondent, backed by official raids, has uncovered a web of negligence, fear-driven cleanups, and a system that residents say has been “allowed to rot from the inside.”
On Saturday, a joint team of the Municipal Council Baramulla, Legal Metrology, and the Food Safety Department stormed several markets, unearthing 35 kilograms of spoiled meat being sold in flagrant violation of food safety norms. The seized stock was destroyed on the spot, and shopkeepers were ordered to maintain hygiene or face legal consequences.
But the bigger scandal may have unfolded a day earlier. Across Kashmir, tonnes of rotting frozen chicken, fish, and meat were hastily dumped by wholesalers and restaurant owners — a desperate attempt to escape seizures during anticipated raids. In Baramulla, insiders claim traders in the frozen food sector cleared out over 90 percent of their storage overnight, tipped off before inspectors could act.
For many residents, this looked less like enforcement and more like a warning system for offenders. “The irony is that the authorities here knew exactly where the spoiled stock was stored, but didn’t raid them in time,” said Bilal Ahmad, a social activist from Baramulla.
Over the past few years, Baramulla has become a hub for the frozen meat business. One massive warehouse reportedly processes hundreds of quintals of meat daily, employing dozens to prepare Wazwan staples — kabab, rista, goshtaba — for supply to markets and hotels across the Valley. Locals say it operates more like an industrial plant than a kitchen.
In another neighbourhood famed for its Wazwan chefs, dozens of workers use frozen meat to prepare similar dishes for hundreds of street vendors.
Despite repeated complaints, residents allege, the Food Safety Department has failed to dismantle this chain. Everything is happening under their noses, yet nothing changes. It’s as if public health doesn’t matter,” said Nisar Ahmad Yatoo, a resident.
People from a cross-section of society are now urging the government to intervene decisively.
“There is no accountability over what is sold and consumed. There is no accountability for what is sold and consumed. The administration, along with the food safety department, must adopt a strategy to maintain constant checks on food items so that stale and frozen food is seized, eliminated, and disposed of for the safety of the public at large, thereby stopping the slow poisoning that leads to chronic ailments,” said President of the Bar Association Baramulla, Advocate Nelofar Masood.
