Long queues are visible in Mizoram where people wait their turn at buying meat at shops. Mizo people have bee severely affected by the indefinite ban on the import of live stock from Burma over the last seven months.
 
The scarcity of meat has been leading to quarrels and fights in the queue in front of meat shops in the main market in Aizawl, capital of Mizoram state, northeast India.
 
"Though we wake up early and go to the market there is always a crowd in front of the meat shops," said a local woman who is a regular pork buyer from Aizawl market.
 
"Particularly, buying pork is the most difficult as most of people prefer to consume pork than other meat here," she complains.
 
Mizoram state authorities imposed a restriction on importing livestock and poultry from Burma to prevent the spread of bird flu in the region after the outbreak of avian flu in neighbouring Burma and Bangladesh in March this year.
 
Mizoram shares a porous 400-km (250-mile) border with Burma through which the prohibited poultry and livestock from Burma is smuggled into Mizoram.
 
In June, the local authorities in Champhai district of Mizoram state as a measure to prevent bird flu slaughtered around 30 pigs illegally brought in from Chin state in Burma.
 
The ban on livestock imported from Chin state in Burma has not only caused the scarcity of meat in the markets of Mizoram's capital but also spread to other towns in the state.
 
In the second capital Lung lei, the main market cows are brought in from Chin state. The price of beef has been slowly going up. The price of pork rose from 100 to 120 a kilogram while beef touched Rs.150 a kilogram.
 
"After the ban came into affect, the shortage of meat in local market was in evidence," a local in Lunglei said.
 
A local in Champhai said the restriction on poultry and livestock from Burma has had an impact. "We cannot buy pigs whenever we need to as earlier," he added.
 
People in Champhai are feeling the pinch of rising prices of livestock in the market. Even, the price of piglets is slowly going up to Rs. 5,000 from Rs. 2,000.
 
The southern part of Mizoram, Lawngtlai are also experiencing the effect of stoppage of livestock smuggled in from Chin state and Arakan state in Burma.
 
A regular meat buyer from Aizawl holding a package of pork and beef in a plastic bag says with a smile, "The shortage of meat has not only driven up the price but the weight of meat is going down".