Ahmedabad municipal chief rolls back Rs 32 cr slaughterhouse plan after BJP MLA’s objection

“The existing slaughterhouse will be shifted outside the city to a modern slaughterhouse to be set up at a cost of Rs 32 crore,” Pani had announced in the draft budget.

The plan included round-the-clock availability of doctors, an antemortem inspection room, chilling facilities and air-conditioned vehicles for transporting animals. It also proposed “modern slaughter units for both small and big cattle”, a rendering plant as well as an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for treatment of blood and waste with the aim of making it an environmentally compliant and hygienic facility.

Soon after the budget was presented by Pani, Shah objected to the plan claiming it was against his party’s ideology. In a written message to the municipal commissioner on Wednesday, Shah, a former mayor, demanded that the allocation be withdrawn before the budget is finalised by the Standing Committee.

Pani told The Indian Express: “The draft budget had a proposal to shift the existing slaughterhouse from the core of the city to outside and not to set up a new one. The decision to withdraw the proposal has been communicated in writing to the standing committee.” Pani added that the decision has been taken after a request was received against the proposal.

On Thursday, Shah alleged that the announcement of a modern slaughterhouse came under pressure from Khedawala. “For the last three-four months, the Congress MLA has been demanding in the coordination meetings of Municipal Commissioner and MPs and MLAs to shift the slaughter house and make a party plot in its place. It looks like the Municipal Commissioner had announced a modern slaughterhouse under his pressure,” Shah told The Indian Express.

Asserting that he has opposed the modernisation of the existing slaughter house and not its shifting to a new place, Shah told this paper, “I am a Jain and the Mayor too is a Jain. This is against our ideology. A similar proposal of a modernised slaughter house in the Piplaj area came to me in 2007 when I was the Mayor, but I rejected it. With a modernised slaughter house, the capacity will increase by four to five times which means if 100 cattle are slaughtered today this will increase to 500. I am against its modernisation and not shifting.”

Khedawala said that he had demanded the relocation of the slaughterhouse to the Sewage Farm from the area near Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur, where the annual Rath yatra is being held, as it hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community.

“Despite being a Muslim myself, I have demanded to shift the slaughter house to the Sewage Farm area. I have not demanded to create a new slaughter house but only to shift the existing one. Since the existing slaughter house is near two temples – Jagannath Temple and Geeta Mandir – I have demanded its shifting and making a party plot at its place. In the slaughterhouse case, even the High Court has directed to shift it for its better management. All of a sudden, the proposal of a slaughterhouse in the Behrampura area has been withdrawn. This clearly shows the double standard of the BJP which says one thing and does the other,” Khedawala alleged.

“The existing slaughter house is not functioning as per the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines. I had cited the case to the Commissioner that when international athletes and others will come to Ahmedabad for international sports the city is preparing for, they need hygienic food. The new slaughterhouse was to be developed as per the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal guidelines. I was told that the tender was also issued for the same,” he pointed out.