Three NMC abattoirs get closure order

NASHIK: The civic body on Friday served notices to three slaughter houses, asking those to shut operations immediately.
This comes in the wake of the high court's Thursday order, directing the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to shut the slaughter houses for operating without consent from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). An activist from the city had filed a PIL in the court against the municipal corporation in connection with the functioning of the slaughter houses .
The NMC has three slaughter houses -at Bhadrakali, one opposite the railway station on Nashik Road, and one behind the vegetable market in Satpur. It is mandatory to have consent of the MPCB for slaughter houses. The NMC did not have the MPCB's consent since 2006. However, it had been paying consent fees every year to the MPCB.
NMC health officer Sunil Bukane said, "We have just received the copy of the high court order, that directed us to shut the slaughter houses. We have issued notices to these three slaughter houses accordingly. We had not taken consent of the MPCB for the slaughter houses, but we paid the consent fees to it regularly every year."
He added, "We had to submit a written application to the MPCB for its consent. We submitted a written application to the MPCB this month. The high court has also instructed the MPCB to speed up the process to grant its consent to the slaughter houses."
Another NMC official said the NMC has been paying the consent fee of around Rs 18,000 to the MPCB. He added, "Besides, we have given a bank guarantee to the MPCB and submitted an application to the board for its consent to the slaughter houses. We have fulfilled all the documentary requirements. Hence, we will soon get the consent from the MPCB and we will be able to start the slaughter houses thereafter."