Mysore/Mysuru: There’s no doubt how beautiful bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings and furniture made of buffalo and cow horns are as it is not at all common for jewellery makers to use animal horns as their products. But if the animal horn products are made in a public place at the time of bird flu and coronavirus scare, then there is a problem. 

Health Officials who were conducting combing operation to cull birds at Metagalli, B.M. Shreenagar, Kumbarakoppal, Ambedkar Jnanaloka and surrounding areas this morning stumbled upon a mini factory that made small furniture and ornaments with cow and buffalo horns. The factory was located near Ambedkar Jnanaloka at an open field where a shed was set up and the raw materials (cow and buffalo horns) were stored illegally. 

Officers inspected the factory that was run by one Akram and another worker. The worker was spotted making the ornaments and polishing them to give the finished products a glossy touch. The horns were repurposed from food industry in Kerala and were transported to Mysuru in a truck from Kannur District. 

Akram had procured over 3,090 kgs of cow and buffalo horns worth Rs. 39,000 from a bio fertiliser company in Kannur and had the bill and GST receipt for the same. But he did not have the mandatory Trade Licence issued by the Mysuru City Corporation and also did not possess the pollution clearance certificate from the jurisdictional office of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. 

Though Akram told the officers that the ornaments and show-pieces are not made with any chemical but made using heat and oil to turn these horn pieces into shiny pieces, health officers refused to listen and a case has been booked against him and a fine of Rs. 10,000 has been levied. He has been asked to shut the shop and run it only after obtaining permission and clearances. 

Commenting on the officers’ action, Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar said that in the wake of bird flu and COVID-19 scare, no unit or factory will be permitted to use animal raw materials. Action will be taken against such units if they do not have the mandatory permission and clearance.