If you are a non-vegetarian living in the city, this could come as a rude shock. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that pathetic conditions at slaughter houses controlled by the Corporation of Chennai (CoC) is leading to supply of ‘disease-prone’ meat.
The Board has also disclosed that it has issued show cause notices to the Corporation for all the three slaughter houses under its control in the city.
In his affidavit on a petition before the Tribunal that sought banning of illegal slaughter houses here, the Joint Chief Environmental Engineer said that three slaughter houses are currently functioning in Chennai in Pulianthope, Saidapet and Villivakkam.
As far as Pulianthope slaughter house was concerned, despite the completion of the first phase of modernisation works and issuance of consent to operate, the Corporation has delayed giving permit to commission the modernised slaughter house.
This was despite a direction of Madras HC that emphasised on the commissioning of the facility.
“During inspection and investigation on November 30, it was found that the slaughter house is kept idle and slaughtering is continued to be carried out in a conventional unhygienic manner,” the affidavit said.
The slaughter houses in Villivakam and Saidapet, where only sheep and goat are slaughtered, do not have valid consents for the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) on their campus. They are also discharging untreated effluents into the public sewer. Therefore, show cause notices were issued by the Board in respect of all three slaughter houses.
When the matter came up for hearing before the Southern Bench comprising Judicial Member Justice M Chockalingam and Expert Member Professor R Nagendran on Friday, the CoC, filed a reply stating that action had been initiated against 850 unlicensed meat stalls in Chennai under the Public Health Act.
On the three slaughter houses, the CoC said the ones in Villivakkam and Saidapet were modernized in 2006 and 2008 respectively. The Pullianthope slaughter house is under the process of modernization with the participation of a private party for `43 crore.
While the TNPCB noted that a slaughter house proposed in Ambattur had not been functioning for the past three years, the CoC said that its modernization too was under progress.
However, the reply failed to satisfy the bench as it did not elaborate on what action was initiated against the unlicensed meat shops that were into illegal slaughtering.
Also, following the reply of the Corporation in the court hall that Chennai has
been divided into 15 zones and only shops in Anna Nagar have been raided after the tribunal’s previous orders, the bench said the report itself seemed to be an eyewash.