The Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has approved a new set of restrictions governing the keeping of goats and the performance of qurbani during Bakri Eid. The resolution, backed by the ruling BJP, was passed by a majority at the civic body's general meeting on Tuesday, August 18.
Under the new rules, residents will not be permitted to keep goats brought for sacrifice inside homes, housing societies, shops, roads or other unauthorised public places. Qurbani will also be permitted only at locations designated by the municipal corporation.
The decision comes after repeated disputes in Mira-Bhayandar over goats being brought into residential complexes ahead of Bakri Eid. Some of these incidents reportedly led to confrontations between residents and increased communal tensions in the city.
The new policy requires residents and organisers to obtain municipal permission for conducting qurbani. Temporary mandaps or designated spaces for goats during Bakri Eid will also require prior approval from the civic body.
BJP corporator Prashant Dalvi said the rules include provisions for fines and criminal action against people who violate the regulations.
The municipal corporation has said the policy is intended to address concerns related to public hygiene, cleanliness, law and order, and the religious and social sentiments of residents.
The opposition has criticised the blanket nature of the restrictions. Congress corporator Anil Sawant argued that housing societies should be allowed to make their own decisions if all residents agree to goats being brought onto the premises.
The Congress also sought an exemption for societies where all members give their consent. However, the proposal was rejected because the ruling party had the required majority.
Sawant maintained that if residents of a society have no objection to a goat being kept on the premises for a few days before Bakri Eid, such arrangements should not automatically be prohibited.
The resolution also introduces stricter regulations for meat shops across Mira-Bhayandar.
Meat, chicken and beef shops will be required to use tinted or covered glass so that meat is not clearly visible from outside. Displaying meat in front of shops or in open areas will not be permitted.
The civic body has also proposed action against shops operating without valid licences. Violations could attract fines of up to ₹25,000, while repeated breaches could result in cancellation of the meat-selling licence.
Those seeking new meat-shop licences may also have to submit prescribed documents and pay applicable licence and renewal fees.
Another proposed condition is that meat shops should be located at least 300 metres away from religious places, hospitals and educational institutions.
To enforce the new regulations, the municipal corporation plans to deploy ward-level flying squads. Officials will conduct inspections, particularly during festivals and periods when meat sales and qurbani activity increase.
The issue has remained contentious in Mira-Bhayandar for nearly two years, with disagreements between residents over the presence of goats in common areas of housing societies. The civic administration has faced challenges in dealing with such disputes in the absence of specific local regulations.
The new resolution seeks to establish a formal framework for regulating qurbani, goat keeping and meat sales across the city.
The restrictions also come against the backdrop of a 2019 interim order of the Bombay High Court concerning qurbani in Mumbai. The court had restrained the civic body from permitting slaughter inside individual residential flats, citing concerns related to hygiene, sanitation and public health.
However, the order did not amount to a blanket prohibition on slaughter in cooperative housing societies or community premises. It indicated that permission should generally not be granted where an authorised slaughterhouse or designated community facility was available within a reasonable distance.
The Mira-Bhayandar resolution therefore establishes a separate set of local restrictions that will govern where goats can be kept and where qurbani can take place within the municipal limits.
With the BJP-backed proposal now approved by the general body, residents, housing societies and meat traders in Mira-Bhayandar will have to comply with the new regulations once they are formally implemented.