For years, residents of Harohalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru have been protesting against the construction of an abattoir citing environmental concerns. However, the issue has taken a new turn as a seer championing a ban on cow slaughter has entered the fray.
Raghaveshwara Bharathi, the seer of Ramachandrapura Mutt, is set to hold a day-long protest at Harohalli on Friday. “The abattoir is set to slaughter around 400 cows every day, which we will fight tooth and nail. We will not allow cow slaughter anywhere,” he told The Hindu .
The BJP held a press conference on Thursday to voice their opposition. Padmanabha Reddy, leader of opposition in the BBMP, alleged irregularities in the contract for the abattoir. “There are multiple loopholes and corruption involved. These should be probed by a judicial commission,” he said adding: “We are, in principle, opposed to cow slaughter. The party line is clear from Uttar Pradesh.”
The abattoir is being built as an alternative to the one on Tannery Road following a High Court direction in 2002 on a PIL by Krishna Bhat. In 2009, the BJP-led State government had allotted 38 acres in Harohalli Industrial Area in Kanakapura taluk.
But Harohalli residents opposed the move. In 2015, they went on a hunger-strike expressing apprehension about their village becoming a dumping ground ‘for what Bengalureans find a nuisance’, like Mandur.
M. Mallappa, convenor, Harohalli Anti-Slaughter House Struggle Committee, said, “If not anything else, the abattoir will lead to bad smell and effluents polluting the nearby Harohalli lake. The seer sought our support for the protest, which we readily offered. We hope the abattoir will be scrapped.”
Mayor G. Padmavathi said that the city needs a scientific industrial abattoir to prevent unhygienic slaughter. “The State government has withdrawn the cow slaughter bill introduced by the BJP. Cattle certified for slaughter include cows and oxen. Moreover, a BJP-led State government had allotted land in Harohalli in 2009,” she said.
Timeline
1997: Environmentalist B. Krishna Bhat files PIL in HC seeking relocation of slaughter houses on Tannery Road
2002: HC orders shifting all abattoirs outside city limits
2004: Iglur, near Anekal, proposed as an alternate site; locals protest
2009: State government allots 38 acres in Harohalli Industrial Area
2012: BBMP enters into agreement with Chennai-based Capri Meat House Pvt. Ltd. for a modern mechanised abattoir
2015: Harohalli residents hold a week-long hunger strike against abattoir
2016: PIL filed before Supreme Court questioning abattoir dismissed on the grounds that it was premature to argue it will pollute before it becomes operational
The abattoir
Modern and mechanised
Area: 38 acres
Daily capacity: 5000 goats and sheep, 1000 pigs and 1000 cattle heads (cows/buffaloes and oxen)
