Written by Anand Mohan JBhopal | September 23, 2025 08:20 AM IST 2 min readOther districts of Madhya Pradesh, like Bhopal and Indore, have also in the past issued orders to close meat shops during religious festivals.District authorities have banned the sale of meat, eggs and fish in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar and Umaria for the period of the Navratri festival.Maihar is home to the Maa Sharda temple, which is visited by lakhs of devotees during Navratri, officials said. “Maihar is a religious city and Navratri begins at this time, so the administration is banning the sale of meat, fish and eggs from September 22 to October 2,” said SDM Divya Patel.She pointed out that Maihar was declared a religious city by the state government. “The Maa Shardey Kwar Navratri fair will be conducted in Maihar from September 22 to October 2. Maihar has been declared a religious city by the Tourism Department of the Madhya Pradesh government, and lakhs of visitors filled with devotion come to Maihar from every corner of the country for Maa Sharda’s darshan,” she said.Patel issued the order to ban the sale of meat, fish and eggs on September 20. It was issued under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, which grants the power to issue immediate preventive orders in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger. Those violating the provisions are liable to be prosecuted under section 233 of the BNSS, which carries a punishment of six months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,500.In Umaria, SDM Kamlesh Neeraj said the ban on non-vegetarian food was taken after discussions with members of different communities.“We had a meeting with the members of different religious communities. In this meeting, participants made the decision to ban the consumption of non-vegetarian food, like chicken, eggs and fish, considering the fact that the Navratri festival is underway,” the SDM said.For Maihar, this is not the first time the temple town has banned the sale of non-vegetarian items. In March this year, local authorities had banned the sale of non-vegetarian food, citing the massive influx of devotees during the ‘Maa Shardey Chaitra Navratri Fair’.Story continues below this adOther districts of Madhya Pradesh, like Bhopal and Indore, have also in the past issued orders to close meat shops during religious festivals, like Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti, and Buddha Purnima.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Navratri