Year on, no headway on shifting of carcass plant

A year has passed since the carcass utilisation plant at Noorpur Bet village was shut down and it was decided to shift it to the Jamalpur garbage dumping site, but there has been no headway on the issue so far. It was in November 2024 that the decision to shift the carcass plant had been taken.

Advertisement

The carcass plant has been facing opposition since its inception. The plant was supposed to be inaugurated in July 2021, but faced stiff opposition from villagers. The authorities concerned again tried to make it operational in December 2022, but were unsuccessful. Yet another attempt was made in July 2023, but that too failed. On January 15, 2024, the municipal corporation with the support of administration officials and the police finally managed to make the plant operational for 10 days before facing stiff opposition from the villagers.

Ravneet Bittu, MP, also supported the protesting villagers and even locked the plant, leading to the registration of an FIR against him. The plant has been lying closed since then and in November last year it was decided to shift the carcass plant, but the administration and MC authorities are still awaiting the government nod in this regard.

It is estimated that Rs 3.5 crore will be the cost of the shifting of the plant. A senior official of the MC said that they had sent the proposal to shift the plant, but the government was the final authority to take the final decision. He said they were waiting for the nod from the government to get the shifting work initiated.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 7.98 crore under the Smart City Project, it was the third such plant in the country after Jodhpur and Delhi. The main idea behind the setting up of the plant was to help dispose of/process cattle carcass and create poultry feed supplements and fertilisers, but due to opposition from the villagers, those running the plant failed to kick-start its operations.

The objective behind the plant was to shut down the illegal “hadda-rodi” (carcass disposal point) that was functional on the banks of the Sutlej and was closed as it was polluting the river. But this proved futile as it received sharp criticism from the nearby 12 villages, which did not let it operate, fearing foul smell and health issues they could face.

While the National Green Tribunal has asked the MC and administration to start the carcass plant, the authorities have been facing opposition from the nearby villagers in this regard. “The plant is located close to our homes and life of the people living here will become hell if it becomes operational. Apart from foul smell, the threat of groundwater pollution and disease outbreak looms large over us,” said Balbir Singh, a nearby villager.