Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi’s drive against illegal slaughter houses in the state has led to a nationwide outcry that it is aimed at targeting a particular community. Some reports have presented statistics of livestock wealth’s steady growth to highlight the persecution of the meat production and processing industry dominated by Muslims. But there is more to the issue than just judging it on a single parameter of livestock population. For instance, what about the environmental threat it poses?
Parts of western UP like Meerut, Sambhal, Aligarh, Agra and Bulandshahr are major centres for meat production and export. Most of these places have illegal slaughter houses running where environmental norms are flouted with impunity. This was emphasised in the confusion between central and state pollution boards when they responded with different numbers for slaughter houses being run in the state. In its report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last year, the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said there are 58 slaughter houses while the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) report stated 126 such units running in UP. Only 27 of these units had effluent treatment plants as per CPCB’s report.
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A petition in NGT last year claimed that only eight of the 146 applications got a no-objection certificate (NOC) by UPPCB in 2015 but ground reality indicates the presence of large-scale unauthorised operation of slaughterhouses to meet the huge production demand. These illegal units discharge untreated effluent contaminated with animal waste which is released in open drains. The effluent-contaminated water eventually finds its way into the groundwater and enters tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna rivers leading to major water pollution. In addition, furnaces used for extracting animal bone fat releases toxic and harmful gases into the atmosphere in contravention of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981.
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In a country where over a crore animals are reportedly butchered legally, UP contributes more than 19% of the total meat production. Even certified slaughter houses sub-contract their work to private players who slaughter animals in closed rooms with practically no ventilation and disposal facility. There is scant regard for the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nigam Act 1955 which make is mandatory for all animals being slaughtered to undergo health check-up.
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As per reports, a buffalo weighs approximately two quintals but nearly one-fourth of the total body weight ends up as waste. This waste is either sold off or dumped in open fields while the liquid waste is discharged in drains leading to a pollution hazard. This can cause various diseases like cholera, hookworm, dysentery, and typhoid to name a few. In the end, it is the common man which ends up paying a price for this deliberate disregard for our environment.
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