THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A notice issued by the secretary of Vadaserikkara panchayat in Pathanamthitta directing meat merchants not to conduct sales on the day when the holy procession carrying casket of ornaments (

) for special pooja in

for Makaravilakku passes through the panchayat has triggered a row.

The panchayat secretary issued a notice on January 6 directing merchants of fish, meat and chicken to stop sales for two days (January 13 and 14) citing that Thiruvabharanam procession passes through the panchayat on Tuesday. The notice which is being widely circulated on social media sparked off heated debate on how it confounds the secular ideals and freedom of persons to earn their livelihood.

With the notice snowballing into a controversy, the panchayat committee has said that such a decision was never taken. "Every year during Sabarimala pilgrimage, certain routine measures are taken by the panchayat. This is kept as a file. When I enquired about the notice, I was told that it was kept in the file and hence issued. The panchayat committee has never taken such a decision," said Swapna Susan Jacob, president, Vadaserikara panchayat. She added that there had been a previous instance in which an Ayyappa devotee, who took a bath in the river was reported of being tainted with poultry waste. The panchayat had then conducted an informal discussion with merchants to reduce generation of waste, she added.

Jyothi S, secretary of the panchayat said that the notice was meant to prevent generation of waste. "It is a normal practice. We had cleaned up the path for procession and still poultry waste was dumped yesterday. The notice is being misinterpreted. We have a facility for collection of poultry and meat waste, but some of the merchants don't co-operate with it and that's why notice was issued as a precautionary step to avoid dumping of waste along the path of procession since it could lead to other issues also," said Jyothi S.

The merchants, however, said that the notice was issued for the first time. "The procession passes along the panchayat only for a distance of 3.5 kilometres. We have around 14 shops doing meat and fish business here. More than the sales, the notice causes much more serious issues as it derails the secular system we have here. What if they introduce halt of sales for one week next year. This is not acceptable," said KM Chacko, president, Vyapari Vyavasaayi Ekopana Samithi, Vadaserikkara unit.

The procession, which began from Pandalom on Monday passed through Vadaserikara on Tuesday. Saima S, deputy director, panchayat directorate, Pathanamthitta said that the issuance of notice is a normal affair. "This time some people are causing unnecessary trouble to flare up communal sentiments. The secretary only wanted to ensure that the path was clean and there was no waste being dumped there during a religious event. That's a peaceful and proper way for conducting religious events," said Saima S.