CAG slams CMC, BMC over slaughterhouse mess
BHUBANESWAR: If the CAG report released recently is any indication, the Cuttack and Bhubaneswar municipal corporations are worst in managing the slaughterhouses and keeping the practice of open slaughtering in check in the twin cities.
The report assumes significance in view of the drive the corporations, BMC in particular have started to reach out to non-veg traders to curb the practice ahead of the hockey World Cup next month.
“Indecisiveness of BMC and CMC authorities in tendering for operation and management of slaughterhouses rendered the premises of slaughterhouses unhygienic and led to illegal slaughtering of animals,” CAG stated in its report for the year ending March 2021.
The CAG in its audit observed that the Cuttack Municipal Corporation didn’t obtain Consent for Establishment (CFE) and Consent for Operation (CFO) from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to make its abattoirs operational.
Operation of slaughterhouses without the authorisation of SPCB amounted to the illegal slaughtering of animals within the urban limit. This implies that the compliance criteria were not adhered to, leading to health hazards as well as contamination of the environment, the audit pointed out.
The CAG, in its audit report also pointed out that none of the slaughterhouses in either of the urban local bodies had waste processing and disposal facilities.“The liquid waste generated were allowed directly into the drainage system. Solid waste generated in the slaughterhouses and retail mutton, chicken, fish shops also mixed with solid waste and transported to landfill sites. The deep burial of carcasses and animals was not practiced by ULBs, instead they were disposed to the landfill,” the CAG rued.
It further underlined that BMC had constructed a slaughterhouse at Gadakana in August 2017 at a cost of `7.02 crore, which remained idle till January 2021 due to non finalisation of tender for operation and maintenance leading to blockage of funds besides paving way for illegal slaughtering within the urban limits.
The other five slaughter houses constructed by CMC were also lying in dilapidated condition during the time of audit due to non-maintenance. This was also leading to foul smell all around these structures and was creating environment pollution, the report stated.
In January 2021, the CMC deputy commissioner for sanitation accepted the audit comments and said that necessary steps would be taken in the future for management of slaughterhouses, the CAG report read.