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Bengaluru's chicken lovers, here's some bad news. You won't be able to buy fresh chicken today or tomorrow, as all chicken shops in the city are on a two-day strike. They are protesting a new waste management fee of ₹5 per kilo on chicken waste.

The Karnataka Poultry Traders Association has called for this protest against the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML) and the city corporation.

Let's look at the numbers. Bengaluru has more than 6,000 chicken shops. Together, they sell over 7 lakh kilos of chicken every single day. This creates a massive 2 to 3 lakh kilos of waste daily. These huge numbers are now at the centre of a big fight between the Karnataka Poultry Traders Association and the BSWML.

Right now, the BSWML collects waste from these chicken shops. But now, they are demanding money to continue this service. The new rule says shop owners must pay ₹5 for every kilo of waste. So, a shop that produces 30 kilos of waste a day will have to pay ₹150 daily. That comes to ₹4,500 a month. If you multiply that across 6,000 shops, the corporation could earn ₹9 lakh every day, or ₹27 lakh a month. The poultry association says this is just not acceptable.

The Karnataka Poultry Traders Association is fighting this fee because they argue that chicken waste actually has commercial value and is used for many other purposes. Because of this, the traders are firm on their decision not to pay the fee. With this two-day shutdown, the traders want to send a strong message. For the rest of us, it means finding Chicken 65, kebabs, or even a good chicken biryani will be a real challenge in the city today and tomorrow.