No taker for carcass incineration project in Bathinda, MC to float tender again

The proposed zero-residue incinerator, one-of-its-kind in Punjab, will be able to handle 10 dead animals daily

The Bathinda municipal corporation’s plan to set up an incinerator for safe disposal of carcasses is in limbo as no firm has shown interest in bidding for the project.

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The proposed zero-residue incinerator, one-of-its-kind in Punjab, will be able to handle 10 dead animals daily.

MC superintending engineer Sandeep Gupta said, “Tenders were opened on January 17 but no agency responded to our demand to design an incinerator for carcass disposal. We will soon float the tender again. The MC has demarcated site for the project.”

According to officials, 5-6 animals die every day in the municipal jurisdiction but safe disposal of dead animals has become a challenge for the authorities.

The conventional practice of ‘hadda rori’ involves dumping carcasses in open spaces in villages. But following protests by villagers, the local authorities have to shift these sites several times. Stray dogs feed on the carcasses dumped in the open, posing threat of diseases to locals, say MC officials.

Besides the machinery, the civic body had placed a demand for training its staff to handle the incinerator.

Municipal commissioner Bikramjit Singh Shergill said the state government has mooted a policy under which dead animals will be disposed of in a way that doesn’t impact the environment and public health. “The other option of private-public partnership (PPP) for an animal rendering plant that converts waste animal tissues into usable materials was shelved due to financial reasons,” he said.