KMC to acquire 72 cottah land for setting up modern abattoir

Kolkata: Following a National Green Tribunal order, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to acquire 72 cottahs of land at Garden Reach to set up a modern abattoir at a place where a defunct slaughterhouse now exists.

It is learnt from KMC that there is already a defunct slaughterhouse at Garden Reach. The civic body wants to turn this into a modern abattoir following an order of the National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi. As per the available record, the entire area consists of 72 cottahs of land and is under private ownership.

A meeting in this regard was held a month back in the presence of the mayor Firhad Hakim. It was decided there that KMC would acquire the land in question through direct purchase in the public interest and convert the same to a modern abattoir, observing all government rules and regulations. An official confirmed that the proposal was passed in a member mayor-in-council meeting (MMIC).

Sources said that this year in May, the NGT directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to take a call on the Expert Committee’s recommendations to include slaughterhouses and meat processing under Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 within two months. The NGT was hearing an application raising concerns about the inadequacy of the environmental regulatory framework to evaluate and remedy the adverse impact of slaughterhouse activities inspite of recommendations.