Rajkot: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Vijay Rupani government is set to ban non-vegetarian food in temple town Somnath and declare the peripheral area around the temple as as ‘only vegetarian zone.’Local Hindutva outfits have been protesting the sale of non-veg food and eggs near the temple for quite sometime now.Top sources in the district collector office and police have confirmed that the announcement to declare the peripheral area, mostly three km, from Patan Main Chowk to Kajli Marketing Yard, will be made any time soon.In April last year, the BJP-ruled Veraval-Patan municipality had passed a resolution to ban non-veg food and now it is learnt that the government too has given the nod.Pratik Bhuva of Hindu Yuva Sangathan in Somnath said, “Within few days of the municipality passing the resolution, permission was granted to two shops to sell non-veg food near the temple. We had represented chief minister Vijay Rupani thrice and he is positive about our demand.”Bhuva said BJP will have to bear the consequences if the veg zone is not notified.Gir-Somnath district BJP president Jhaver Thakrar said, “All the formalities are completed and very soon the veg zone in Somnath will be declared. The process took a long time as we had complete all the legal formalities so it no one can challenge this decision in the future.”“Government has finally decided to declare veg-zone in the areas around the temple. Details that how much area should be notified and process of shifting non-veg sellers out of this area is being worked out,” a senior officer in the district administration told TOI.When contacted, superintendent of police, Gir Somnath district, Rahul Tripathi, said “We have given our nod for the veg zone proposal after assessing the law and order situation in the district.”There are nearly 50 outlets, including the fish and mutton market, in Patan village near Somnath and hawkers selling non-veg food. The ban could affect livelihood of at least 1,000 people directly and roughly 400-500 indirectly.Sources said that a huge population in the district including Patan town where the famous Shiva temple is located consumes non-vegetarian, mostly seafood. The communities include Muslims, Kolis, Dalits, Kharvas , Darjis and Bavajis. Majority of this population is also engaged in fisheries business.Earlier in 2006 when Somnath was part of Junagadh district, then collector had banned the sale of non-veg around in 500 m periphery of the temple.

Stay updated with all the Latest Rajkot headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.