6 hours long siege by meat shop owners at NGT door, hearing on abattoir today

BHOPAL: A two-year legal battle for land and environmental clearance for shifting Bhopal abattoir from Jinsi took an ugly turn on Tuesday when concern over a probable shutdown of the slaughter house triggered a six-hour protest and gridlock at the arterial road in front of National Green Tribunal.
Hundreds of members in the meat business, including All-India Jamiat-ul-Quresh and Khateeks hit the streets, demanding an NGT extension for opening the abattoir until a new area is allotted.The tribunal will now hear the case on Wednesday. At least 1,500 meat shops in the city were shut for a day in protest, affecting supply of more than 22,000kg of mutton.
As the road near NGT turned into the epicentre of protest, the building turned into fortress by afternoon. The agitation forced chief secretary Anthony DeSa to appear before NGT for a hearing at 2:30pm, along with principal secretaries of Home department, Food and civil supply, Urban developement and Reveue departments, collector Nishant Warwade and BMC commissioner Chhavi Bharadwaj and counsels Sachin Verma and Vivek Chaudhary and MPPCB officials.
The issue has been on the boil since the NGT order on September 2015 to shift the abattoir from Jinsi, follow environmental laws or face closure. The abattoir has been discharging untreated waste into the Betwa river through Patra nullah and Halali river.
Rightwing outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad has tried to stall the shifting of the abattoir to a new site, including Mughalia Kot in Huzur tehsil, and submitted a memorandum to chief minister. "Slaughter house comes in the category of polluting industries and should not be shifted to Mughalia Kot, as resident are opposed to it. Other abattoirs in residential areas or in their vicinity should also be shifted."
Traffic police barricaded road from both ends, including the district court and Paryavas Bhawan. The route was shut for commuters throughout the day. Holding placards in hands, shop owners, women and elderly members eagerly waited for a decision as the hearing continued in NGT.
After an hour of hearing in the chamber of NGT judicial member Justice Dalip Singh, government representatives decided to file an affidavit at the tribunal on Wednesday to seek an extension and shift the slaughterhouse. "We will file the affidavit regarding steps taken by government so far. Problems of meat shop owners are genuine and closing the abattoir will hit their livelihood. We are considering all options and we have to shift the abattoir to a new site," said chief secretary Anthony DeSa.
Agitators began gathering near the NGT building since 10 am, before the hearing began. On Monday, the butcher community had signed a petition from 60,000 people in Old City, which was submitted to tribunal on Tuesday morning.
Mohammed Sagheer, leader of Opposition and representative of agitating Qureshi community members, said, "Closure of slaughter house will affect thousands linked to the business of sale and purchase of meat and animals. This is the only source of bread and butter for us. We are ready to move to a new site, but the abattoir should not be shut down."
He also alleged that state authorities are under pressure from Rameshwar Sharma, MLA, Huzur, who has been stalling every move to relocate the abattoir.
Earlier, BMC decided to shift slaughter house to Adampur Chawani, but this was stopped after protests from residents. Then, a 2.9-hectare land was chosen at Mughalia Kot, which is outside the BMC limit. The collector referred the matter to the state revenue department for approval. Again, protests by Huzur MLA Rameshwar Sharma put a spanner in the wheels. During the NGT hearing on August 10, the panel asked the revenue department to look into the objections by August 30.
Religious lines blur, Khateeks too join stir
Hindu butchers from Khateek community on Tuesday came out in support of meat shop owners and butchers from old city.
They supported the agitation against National Green Tribunal's order to shut down abattoir, which is also the main source of earning for them. Many of them have been procuring supply from BMC slaughter house for the last over 30-40 years. Suresh Gadvanshi, a meat shop owner from Barkhedi, said, "If this slaughter house shuts down it will adversely affect about 200 shops of Khateek community in the city, which are into meat business. I have been working at meat shop since I was 10-years-old. As there is no other slaughter house in the city we will be left jobless." Similarly, Bablu Khatik from old railway station area said, "If we stand united now then only we will be able to save the slaughter house. We haven't taught anything else to our children. 500 Khateek families are into this business. This is the time to rise above the religious lines to save our livelihood."
Khateeks are a caste found in Punjab province in Pakistan and in several states in India. Those in Pakistan are Muslim while most Indian Khateeks are Hindus. There is a small minority in Gujarat and Maharashtra who are Muslim. They are mostly into meat business irrespective of the places where they have settled.
Khateek community members said like butcher community spread in Islampura, Aishbagh and other parts of old city they have been taking slaughtered meat from slaughter house for the last about six decades.