Dehradun: Not a single slaughterhouse in Uttarakhand adheres to mandatory regulations, said a Dehradun-based animal rights activist. The state has already earned the wrath of the Supreme Court in the past for not furnishing details about abattoirs.
The lone slaughterhouse in the state capital is in a deplorable condition. Gauri Maulekhi, the authorized inspection officer for the slaughter house and member of People For Animals (PFA), said, "The Dehradun slaughter house is in Bhandari Bagh, near agricultural fields. It doesn't even meet basic requirements such as clean water, a functional drainage system, incinerators and stunning guns. The blood flows into the fields, where vegetables are grown. There is no veterinarian to tend to diseased animals. Even pregnant and sick animals are not spared of butchery. The remains of animals are not disposed properly. Dogs roam freely inside the abattoir."
Apart from the one main abattoir, there are several shacks in dingy lanes that slaughter animals with little regard for hygiene.
Maulekhi said the former chief secretary had directed the commissioner of Garhwal and Kumaon Mandal, district magistrates and food safety commissioner to inspect slaughterhouses and take action against erring establishments. All six municipal corporations were also directed to appoint veterinary doctors to these slaughterhouses but no action was taken.
She said that in the absence of licensed abattoirs, the food safety department was issuing licenses to individual meat sellers, which is in violation of the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006.
When TOI contacted chief secretary Ravi Shankar, he said he would look into the matter.
Ravinath Raman, the new Dehradun DM, also said he would ensure slaughterhouses meet norms and he would make municipal corporation officials carry out their responsibility.
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