NGT notice to MCD over violations at Ghazipur abattoir

The National Green Tribunal has given the Municipal Corporation of Delhi four weeks to address violations at the Ghazipur slaughterhouse. A joint committee found that untreated effluents were being dumped into the Yamuna river and no bio-methanation plant had been installed.

Updated on: Oct 23, 2023, 05:58:06 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Sunday gave the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) four weeks to fix the new violations at the Ghazipur slaughterhouse, based on a report submitted by a joint committee comprising the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

The committee inspected the slaughterhouse in August and submitted a report to the tribunal, which said untreated effluents were being dumped from the slaughtering area and were ultimately ending up in the Yamuna, adding that no bio-methanation plant had been installed yet either.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava said MCD had four weeks to fix the issues highlighted in the report, directing the joint committee to carry out a fresh inspection after this period.

“The conclusion (of the report) reveals that in the joint inspection, untreated effluent was found to be bypassed from the slaughtering area and ultimately being discharged into the river Yamuna,” NGT said in its order dated October 20, which was issued on Sunday.

The tribunal further observed that the water quality and microbiology analysis report submitted by the committee revealed the count of total coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli to be beyond permissible levels.

“The joint committee will carry out the inspection after four weeks and disclose the status of compliance of environmental norms found on the spot,” the order added, asking DPCC to carry out water testing after eight weeks as well.

An MCD spokesperson said that the tender to set up a bio-methanation plant is in process and a reverse osmosis plant has already been installed in the complex. “All corrective steps will be ensured by MCD,” the spokesperson said.

Ghazipur slaughterhouse is the only legal abattoir in the city where goats, sheep, and buffaloes are slaughtered to meet the domestic demand

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More