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Ludhiana residents block road to oppose carcass plant opening
Ludhiana residents, numbering in the hundreds, voiced their concerns over the potential environmental and health hazards posed by the operational carcass plant
Residents of Noorpur Bet and Rasulpur Patti and villagers held a protest, blocking the Hambran-Ladhowal road for approximately five hours ahead of the municipal corporation (MC) and administration officials’ anticipated move to reopen the carcass utilisation plant on Wednesday.
Residents, numbering in the hundreds, voiced their concerns over the potential environmental and health hazards posed by the operational carcass plant. Despite the presence of over 200 police officers urging restraint, the protesters stood firm in blocking the main road.
Senior officials led by municipal commissioner Sandeep Rishi, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Gautam Jain, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Soumya Mishra met the villagers and talks continued for over five hours. Municipal additional commissioner Paramdeep Singh, joint commissioner Kulpreet Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) Sameer Verma, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Harjinder Singh Bedi, tehsildar Jagsir Singh among others were also present at site.
Balbir Singh from Rasulpur village said, “Residents of more than five villages including Rasulpur, Khaira Bet, Rajapur Patti among others have staged the protest against the MC and district administration who have come to open the carcass plant.”
“We have already conducted multiple meetings in this regard that plant cannot be open in this area as people are residing within 50-m of the plant and this plant will emanate a foul smell when it is operational and we cannot live here if this plant will get started,” he added.
Singh said the protest was called off after five years when officials began leaving around 5 pm, adding, “We are determined to continue such protests if officials attempt to open the plant again.”
Nirmal Singh, another resident, reiterated the plea for relocation of the plant to an area with fewer inhabitants, saying, “We have already requested the officials not to open this plant in our area as it will be harmful to the residents.”
Rishi, meanwhile, said the modern plant was equipped with scientific machinery and the villagers have been assured that the plant will cause no pollution/foul smell in the area. He said they have appealed to the villagers to allow a trial at the plant, so that it could be proved that the operations at the plant will not cause any pollution or foul smell.
The matter will now be discussed with the senior officials in the state department, the municipal commissioner added.
The carcass plant, situated near the Sutlej River in Ludhiana, remained non-operational for two years before the municipal corporation initiated its installation in December 2019. Delays, exacerbated by the pandemic, pushed the completion to June 2021, incurring a cost approximately of ₹7 crore. However, when former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu was set to inaugurate the plant in July 2021, villagers vehemently opposed its operation.
Despite the National Green Tribunal seeking an action-taken report, and the MC commissioner’s order to operate the plant in collaboration with other departments, the matter remains unresolved. The plant, designed to process 150 dead animals daily, focusing on larger animals, continues to be a point of contention.
