8 years on, abattoir project fails to take off in Faridabad

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Faridabad, January 17

The state-of-the-art slaughterhouse project in the city, proposed more than eight years ago, is hanging in the balance. The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) had identified certain sites for the project, but has failed to launch it.

Despite spending several crores on civic infrastructure in the city with a population of over 28 lakh, the authorities have failed to come up with an abattoir, which has led to the flourishing of private meat shops, posing a health risk in the view of the violation of hygiene norms, claim the civic body officials.

An agency was given the project contract, but it could not start work due to protest by residents and issues related to the revision of the tender rate, reveals MC sources. It is claimed that a budget of Rs 23 crore was sanctioned in 2017, and an amount of Rs 13 crore was also released by the state government. As the rest of the cost was to be borne by the Union government, the project got in a limbo due to shortage of funds,” said an official on condition of anonymity. He said funds to the tune of Rs 180 to Rs 200 crore were required for the project that seemed a distant dream for the civic authorities at present.

The sites selected for the slaughterhouse project include Sectors 22 and 23, Jharsently, Pali and Tikli Khera village. According to sources, an amount of Rs 1.5 crore was spent for purchasing land in Khera village, but resistance by residents has held up the project. The delay in the project has given a free run to the private meat shop owners, who do not care about hygiene and cleanliness, and pose a health risk for residents, said AK Gaur, a social activist here. He claimed that the majority of these shops were unauthorised or unlicensed.

“Though the proposal has not yet been completely dropped, the project is on hold due to technical issues,” said Ombir Singh, chief engineer, MCF.