Covid-19 may be a threat to the humans across the globe but it is turning out to be a saviour for the nature.
We are witnessing that the pollution levels decreased in many severely polluted rivers. Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in India but the air pollution levels have been drastically decreased in the capital due to the lockdown restrictions.
Not just this, lakhs of sheep are escaping slaughter due to the coronavirus in the Ramzan season.
It is known that sheep is commonly targeted in major festival seasons like Ramzan, Bakrid, Bonalu, other Hindu Jataras and Christmas season mainly.
Chengicherla Slaughter house in Telangana has been closed due to lockdown for the last few days. High quality mutton is supplied from Chengicherla slaughter house to the majority of the popular Haleem houses in the city.
Now, the slaughter house is closed, Haleem Makers Association planned for alternate arrangements but their efforts are in vain.
The Haleem is prepared for evening consumption during the Holy month of Ramadan but the curfew is imposed in the evening times. The majority of the hotels are closed and the staff went to their native places. They are not in a situation to come back to the city now.
The makers have planned to supply Haleem to the homes through Swiggy, Zomato but the services are not available now. Due to all these reasons, lakhs of sheep escaped slaughter this season.
Abdul Raheem, a resident of LB Nagar who is into sheep transportation business for the last 24 years said, "Irrespective of the festivals, 40k to 50k sheep are consumed in Telangana. Among them, Greater Hyderabad accounts to 20k-25k sheep. At the time of Bakrid, the sheep that come from outside is numbered around one lakh. This is additional to the regular consumption of Telangana. During the Ramzan season, 1.25-1.5 lakh sheep will be used daily for preparing Haleem."
If 1.5 lakh sheep are slaughtered per day, it amounts roughly to 45 lakh sheep for a month. This is the number of sheep escaped due to the lockdown period. Thus Coronavirus has blessed around 45 lakh sheep only in Hyderabad with an extended life span.
Majid Khan, who supplies pulses and other ingredients to several Haleem houses shared different opinion on the developments.
He said, "This is my personal opinion. There should be a limit on everything we do. The God has given many things but the human beings are over exploiting each and everything on the planet. Sacrificing animals on special occasions in an age old practice and we may not object it. But people started over eating meat for mere taste. Everybody is doing it irrespective of the religion. It seems God is giving some message through nature to entire mankind. I'm not so sure about it. I am just saying what my mind is saying, but not with any authority on religious scriptures."
So, the Haleem lovers in Hyderabad can forget about this dish this year.