No progress on future of carcass plant at Noorpur Bet village

In the last hearing on August 20, the National Green Tribunal had given a time-frame of three months to resolve the issues related to the carcass plant located at Noorpur Bet village.

While two months have almost passed, there has been no progress and the future of carcass plant remains uncertain.

The next hearing in the NGT is scheduled for November 29 and the issue is to be resolved by then. A decision, whether to shift the carcass plant or make the existing plant operational, has to be taken.

A cabinet sub-committee was formed to resolve the issue but one of the major reasons why no decision has been taken so far is the recent changes in the state cabinet. Till now, there have been no discussions and there is no clarity on who will lead the committee. The Local Bodies Minister who was also a part of the committee has been changed recently.

Municipal Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said with a new Minister for Local Bodies after the changes in state cabinet, no discussion has taken place so far.

“We are thinking of relocating the carcass plant. Out of two places, between Food Industrial Hub near Ladhowal where the Punjab Agro Department has about 200 acres of land and the dump site at Tajpur Road, the second one is more suitable but a final decision will be taken by the committee,” he said.

It is the third such plant in the country after Delhi and Jodhpur. While the NGT is pressing the MC and administration to start the carcass plant, the authorities are facing opposition from villagers in the vicinity due to health hazards and foul smell.

The plant was constructed at a cost of around Rs 7.98 crore under the Smart City Project. Cattle carcass would be disposed of/processed to create poultry feed supplements and fertilisers at the facility. It was supposed to be inaugurated in July 2021, but faced opposition from residents. However, on January 15 this year, the MC with the support of administration and police officials, managed to make the plant operational but again faced opposition from the villagers. It was locked up again by the locals and Member of Parliament Ravneet Bittu.