Site row may move hi-tech slaughterhouse outside Mysore

MYSORE: The proposal to build a mechanized slaughterhouse in Kesare off Outer Ring Road is likely to be quashed. The Mysore City Corporation council on Tuesday decided to approach the district minister seeking an alternate site to build it.
MCC hit the first hurdle after the empowered standing committee on health suggested that the site is not suitable to build the abattoir owing to residential areas and public utilities in its vicinity.Also, the civic body has not got the site converted for use from agriculture to non-agriculture purpose from the Mysore Urban Development Authority. This issue also figured during the council meeting.
With ruling partners in the MCC, BJP and JD(S), differing on the issue, the ball is now in the court of district minister V Srinivas Prasad. Congress, which opposed the relocation move, suggested it could open a floodgate of protests seeking relocation of waste management plants that are within the city. But its member Haseena Taj, who represents ward 46 where the abattoir is proposed to be built, opposed the project saying it will hit residents.
The MCC will discuss the knotty issue with Prasad, Mysore MP, MLAs, MLCs from the city and district administration and indicated that it could seek an alternate site outside city limits. Since MCC approved the Rs 39.9 crore project in April, the issue has kicked up dust with residents and the BJP objecting to it. The project site is mired in controversy given that it is located close to places of worship and public utilities, including a satellite bus stand.
At the start of the meeting, the BJP members raised the issue as the House has to ratify decisions taken during the previous May 29 meeting. Referring to the series of protests, BJP leader Nandeesh Preetam said the project should be relocated as residents are against it. He said the BJP members approved the project as they had no information and were misled by officials too. “We are not against the abattoir, but want it shifted outside the city,” he stated. BJP MLC Go Madhusudana said the MCC has not got approved change in land use for the site where the abattoir is planned. “We are not against people consuming non-vegetarian food. The abattoir should not be built there. Let us search for alternate sites.”
Former mayor Ayub Khan of Congress said it is difficult to shift the project as there is no land available with the MCC and argued that if the facility is not built it will amount to contempt of court. Senior JD(S) member Sandesh Swamy said the Centre could cancel the funding if the project is not completed. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 15 crore and released 10 per cent of the amount. The KSPCB issued the NoC on March 14.
MCC chief goes on the defensive
MCC commissioner P G Ramesh, who earned the ire of the corporators for not attending the council meeting on August 7, remained defiant arguing that it could be held without the commissioner attending it. “The council secretary was present during the last meeting and that is enough,” he told the angry members. “I was not well and took the day off,” he added, denying he was under pressure from the state government not to attend it. The controversial meeting on August 7 had announced election of JD(S) member Sandesh Swamy as the MCC representative in MUDA, a high profile membership.
He was also attacked for abruptly postponing the meeting convened on June 30. Ramesh said, “The legislators had to attend the session, so we postponed the council meeting,” he said. But other members accused him of belittling them. “We are also elected by the public and have a role and responsibilities,” they told him.