NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Friday declined to grant any relief to Municipal Corporation of Delhi on the closure of the city’s only slaughterhouse at Ghazipur.
While refusing to stay the closure order by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Justice Yashwant Varma said it comes in the wake of an National Green Tribunal (NGT) order and the corporation has to approach the Supreme Court if it wants to challenge the same.
Earlier, the counsel for the corporation urged the court to intervene, saying that “the zero-liquid discharge system is a process that takes time but public interest requires the abattoir to remain functional.”
The counsel for DPCC maintained that if the corporation gives an undertaking or a timeline by when it can abide by the conditions put by the NGT, the committee can consider giving a conditional permission, for which he can seek instructions.
The corporation counsel then claimed that “the corporation is complying with NGT conditions and only challenging DPCC closure order.”
However, the high court declined any relief to the corporation.
The slaughterhouse was closed on May 30 after DPCC withdrew the consent for operation and sent an email while giving reference to the NGT order of May 13, which ordered that the slaughterhouse could operate only after a joint committee of CPCB and DPCC certified that the facility met the consent conditions and environmental norms. The green tribunal directed that the abattoir could continue its operations only when there was 100% re-circulation of treated water and adoption of a zero-liquid discharge system.
The existing situation has raised concern among meat sellers who are worried about a rise in chicken and mutton prices if the situation persists for long.
