Ludhiana carcass plant project fails to take off
LUDHIANA: A first-of-its-kind project for the state, a carcass utilisation plant is facing strong opposition. Residents of around a dozen villages have set up a tent at the entry point of the approach road towards the plant in Rasulpur Patti village, Noorpur bet area, 21km from the city, and are on a 24-hour protest since July 13, the day the project was to be inaugurated.
Once the plant that is meant to dispose of bodies of dead animals is functional, the contractor will sell their skin.
A meat bone meal will be processed out of their bones and other body parts, which can be used as poultry feed. Currently, animals are skinned at the ‘Hadda Rodi’ on the banks of the Sutlej river in Laddowal area.
The skinners dump the waste into the river, adding to the pollution.
Villages, however, fear that a population of 40,000-odd will face health issues when the plant becomes operational.
Rasulpur Patti former sarpanch Baldev Singh said, “The carcass plant cannot be established within 10km of a residential area according to the Supreme Court orders. Here, we have houses within 100-feet of the plant. Ground water level in the area is around 20 feet. Dumping of the plant’s wastewater will contaminate the ground water.”
The project, part of the Smart City mission, has now been indefinitely postponed; it has already been hanging fire since 2013. Work on the Rs 8 crore project started only in July 2019.
The villagers claim that they had objected to the plant four years ago, but officials misled them.
Noorpur Bet sarpanch advocate Gurdev Singh and Rasulpur Patti sarpanch Sucha Singh said that transportation of dead animals in the area will result in unhygienic conditions.
“The municipal corporation has created wells in the plant to dump the waste. Dumping the waste water will contaminate ground water and if the land turns infertile, farmers will lose their livelihood,” said Gurdev Singh.
Will allay villagers’ fears, says Mayor
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “The plant has been established for disposal of dead animals in a scientific manner and it is the first-of-its-kind in the state. We only want that no pollution is created while skinning the animals. We will allay villagers’ fears.”