Corporate tourists from abroad avoid eating meat

Kolkata: As the carcass meat case came to light, corporate tourists from abroad are avoiding consuming meat during their stay in the city.

According to Prabir Singha Roy, general secretary of the Travel Agents Association of Bengal, said majority of foreign tourists in the city are corporate ones.

"The corporate tourists from abroad are now preferring to vegetables or fish at the most as the carcass meat row have come to light. They are avoiding meat," said Roy.

He further said that in many cases attempts were taken to convince the tourists by making them feel that the quality of food is not the same everywhere.

However, some are getting convinced and having meat while some are not.

It may be recalled that the case of carcass meat sale came to light for the first time with the arrest of two youth who were caught chopping off meat from dead animals found at a dump yard at Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas.

Subsequently, Police have arrested more than 10 people in this connection and the case has been finally taken up by the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also set up a nine member committee headed by Chief Secretary Malay De to completely uproot the menace.

The developments have resulted in a considerable drop in the sale of meat and chicken at eateries.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the carcass meat was supplied to a section of eateries and some departmental stores as well.

The matter related to the sale of dead chicken also came to light with police recovering a huge quantity of fungal-infected chicken at a farm in Rajarhat.

In a bid to gain faith of the people, hotels and restaurants are taking all

necessary steps.

In such a situation, the Hilsa festival is going to take place in Sunderbans in August and the tour operators are expecting more footfall in the festival this time compared to that of the last year.

However, according to the operators, the increase in number of turn out in Sunderbans doesn't have any connection with the carcass meat case.