NGT issues notice to pollution board over new abattoirs

The decision of the state government to give a nod to 21 more slaughterhouses in Nuh district has drawn a flak from local residents. The residents have moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has issued a notice to Haryana State Pollution Control Board and Central Ground Water Authority to explain their take on contamination of air, water and soil, which is impacting the lives of people in Nuh.

“According to the Nuh administration, currently six slaughterhouses are operating in the area and 21 new are coming up. The existing ones are not abiding by norms and the lives of people in villages such as Ghata Shamshabad, Mandi Kheda, Jalalpur, Satkpuri and Tapkan, have been ruined. They have been fighting legal battles for years to get rid of these slaughterhouses. The new slaughterhouses will turn the Aravalli district of Nuh into a graveyard. The pollution control board has been handing out NOCs for these houses without any ground inspection,” said Haider Ali, an activist.

“You can see the condition of villages where these slaughterhouses are operating. Children are ill, blood flows into the fields and waste is being dumped into soil or streams. The air is full of stench but nobody cares. Nuh is not a dump yard. It cannot be converted into a slaughter capital and people can’t be left to die,” said Shaukat Ali, another activist.

The petitioners have alleged that hundreds of people have fallen ill in villages where slaughterhouses exist and no medical attention has been given by the government.

Former Congress MLA and party’s candidate from Nuh, Aftab Ahmed said the slaughterhouses are example of BJP’s hypocrisy.

“They are nurturing cow vigilantism in name of cow protection. They harp on anti-slaughter policies and the Meos are tortured, targeted and even murdered on the slightest suspicion of slaughter. They are making Mewat a slaughter capital. Uttar Pradesh is shutting slaughterhouses and our government is giving them nod to operate here. The BJP owes an explanation to this. They have been ruining the Nuh’s ecosystem by their plans like Aravalli Safari and now slaughterhouses,” said Ahmed.