PAC highlights illegal abattoirs in Maharashtra
According to Pac, many slaughterhouses in the state are not following the prescribed rules.
Mumbai: Out of 37 slaughterhouses in 16 municipal corporations and 21 nagar parishads in Maharashtra, 20 are illegal and only eight have sought permissions from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. The issue of illegal slaughterhouse has been in the news after the Uttar Pradesh government’s crackdown on the same. According to the report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Maharashtra, many slaughterhouses in Maharashtra are not following the prescribed rules.
The PAC report, which is on the urban development department and deals with municipal corporations and nagar parishads, has a mention of the slaughterhouses. The committee presented its report on Friday. On slaughterhouses, the report said, “Under provisions of Water (prevention and control of pollution) act 1974 and Air (Prevention and control of pollution) act 1981 to run a slaughterhouse, necessary permissions from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board is required and it is mandatory to have the plants to get rid of the animal waste properly.”
The report states that out of 36 municipal corporations in Maharasthra chosen for this report, 16 have slaughterhouses, but only seven of them had permissions from MPCB. The report further mentions that out of the seven that had permissions, the approvals of four municipal corporations were revoked between March 2010 and October 2014.
Three of the four municipal corporations did not apply for renewal of permissions. Only one had applied by October 2014 and the MPCB did not give approval for renewal.
Thus, 13 municipal corporations have been running illegal slaughterhouses, claims the report. “Because of this the waste produced from these slaughterhouses were being disposed in gutters, which ended in water bodies,” read the report.
For nagar parishads, the report stated that of the 36 nagar parishads, 21 nagar parishads have a slaughterhouse. Of these, six are legal, eight have applied to MPCB for renewal of permission and remaining seven are illegal.
The report has opined that those who have not yet obtained permissions from MPCB, should immediately seek renewal of permission or apply for permission.