Pune: Price drop sees long queues at meat shops

Pune: Relaxations given under lockdown 5.0 has also 'relaxed' prices of chicken and mutton in the city. The prices have dropped by almost 40 to 60 rupees per kilogram which have cheered meat lovers in the city.

Since the lockdown was imposed in March, there was a shortage of lambs, goats and chicken in the state. During these phases of lockdown price of mutton per kg had shot up to Rs 700 and chicken had been at Rs 280. Even, the meat shops were closed in many areas as police had issued strict orders for implementation of lockdown.

Only after the recent relaxations announced by the central and state governments, the meat shops have resumed operations. Shop owners have made rules of selling meat to only those customers who are wearing masks and follow social distancing norms.

With shops opening for long hours and easy availability of chicken and mutton, citizens have queued up at the meat shops especially on Sundays. Sufficient supplies and demand have prompted rate correction and as result mutton is now sold at Rs 640 per kilogram and chicken at Rs 240 per kilogram. Many of these shops witnessed long queues today.