Administration cracks the whip on illegal animal remains sites in Ludhiana district

Ludhiana, August 24

The district administration has cracked the whip on illegal animal remains sites operating in the district.

While the land of two such sites has been attached, the process to attach the land and assets of three other sites have also been initiated.

This was informed by Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahwney during the resumed hearing of a case pertaining to a carcass plant at Majra Khurd village near Ladhowal in the district before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The NGT Principal Bench, headed by chairperson Prakash Shrivastava, and comprising judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and executive member Dr A Senthil Vel, has directed the DC to file an affidavit in this regard at least one week before the next date of hearing, fixed for November 29.

The DC, who appeared virtually during the resumed hearing before the green court, made the oral submission after the counsel appearing for applicant Col Jasjit Singh Gill made a submission that around Rs 12 crore was required to be recovered from the five animal remains (hadda rodi) sites, which were operating illegally and no action had been taken in this regard.

On this, the DC said in respect of two hadda rodis, land had been attached for recovery of environmental compensation and in respect of others, expeditious action would be taken to ascertain their assets and attach them.

Earlier, the counsel for the state submitted that a sub-committee of two ministers had been formed on August 17 to solve the issue of operationalisation of the modern carcass plant at Majra Khurd.

He submitted that the sub-committee would go into all issues, including an attempt to persuade the agitators, to make the existing plant operational.

He further submitted that the sub-committee would take an appropriate decision, exploring all possibilities within a period of three months.

“The District Magistrate, Ludhiana, directed to file the report by way of affidavit, disclosing the status of recovery of environmental compensation at least one week before the next date of hearing,” the NGT ordered.

Earlier, in an affidavit, the DC submitted that with respect to compliance of the NGT orders dated April 5, she took cognisance and initiated action. “After various meetings with agitators, it was felt that one of the main reasons for the resistance among the protesters of the 23 villages was their visit to a carcass utilisation plant at Jodhpur and issues of odour, etc, of residents of the village at Keru (Jodhpur) of which videos were made viral and it was felt by the agitators that social stigma, ostracisation, fall in Iand value etc., would befall them as well,” she mentioned.

She said though the PPCB had stated that the Jodhpur plant was unscientific and of older design, the agitators had not yielded. “Thus it was decided to address concerns of the agitators by arranging their visit to a successful plant where doubts and grievances could be clarified about the technology,” she submitted while stating that she had directed the PPCB to visit Ghazipur in New Delhi (the only functioning carcass rendering plant in the country to study its model to examine the best practices and find a resolution to the deadlock.

The DC also held a meeting with the agitators on May 2, wherein they had agreed to accompany PPCB officials to see the functioning of the successful plant so that a rational outcome could be reached.

However, the agitators thereafter refused to accompany the PPCB, which undertook its on-site survey at Ghazipur and submitted its detailed analysis of plants at Ghazipur and Nurpur Bet (Ludhiana).

“BriefIy, its findings were that “establishment of carcass utilisation plant in the common complex with similar processes (slaughterhouse and rendering plant) by the MCD may be one of the reasons for its successful operation even though the carcass plant of the MCD is semi-mechanised and technically it is less modern as compared to the carcass utilisation plant installed by the MC in Ludhiana,” she said.

The DC again called the agitators for a meeting on July 4 to discuss findings of the report and to find a way forward to end the deadlock. However, the agitators refused to come for the meeting.

Thereafter, she held a meeting with the MC Commissioner on July 15 to discuss operational logistics of the carcass plant at Nurpur and the contractor of the plant was sent with a contingent of 200 police personnel on July 17 for assessment of the same.

However, there was heavy resistance at the site when the contractor was sent with police force.

The MC Commissioner has proposed that “in view of the continued protests and law and order situation at the site since 2021 when the first attempt was made to inaugurate the plant, the administration may have to explore the option of shifting of the carcass plant at the dumpsite located at Jamalpur or the industrial complex of Punjab Agro, situated around Khadak, Chahar, Cholley and Allowa villages.

“The contractor has been asked to assess the cost of shifting the plant to another location accordingly,” the DC revealed, adding that a meeting at the high level was required to take the decision on further course of action.