Delhi civic body set December deadline to comply with slaughterhouse necessities

It asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to inspect the slaughterhouse and ensure compliance by January 31, 2026

New Delhi

Delhi’s lone abattoir was shut for violating environmental norms in May 2022, and was allowed to reopen with riders. (HT Archive)

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) a December deadline to set up an ingesta plant at the Ghazipur slaughterhouse, requiring the civic agency to comply with one of the original conditions laid down by the tribunal to resume operations at the facility.

Ingesta plants are set up to process the undigested waste of animals, which, along with dung, is converted into biofertiliser.

Delhi’s lone abattoir was shut for violating environmental norms of improper waste handling, groundwater contamination, and inadequate safeguards to prevent environmental pollution in May 2022. The MCD was allowed to resume operations in June 2022, on the condition it will set up either a biomethanation plant or an ingesta plant, for better waste management.

Dismissing an execution application seeking the implementation of the 2022 order, a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel, in its order dated October 30, noted the MCD has initiated the process to set up an ingesta plant.

It asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to inspect the slaughterhouse and ensure compliance by January 31, 2026.

“Since the necessary steps have been taken, therefore, we dispose of this Execution Application by directing MCD to ensure that the work of establishment of the ingesta/dung drying plant is completed by December 2025, as per the disclosure made in the report and the plant becomes operational by December 31, 2025,” said the bench, calling for a compliance report on the same.

“The DPCC will verify the compliance by January 15 and also submit a compliance report by January 31, 2026 to the Registrar General..” it said.

In February, the MCD said in an affidavit that while it had received two bids to set up a biomethanation plant, it was unable to award the contract as the MCD’s standing committee—required to give the final approval—had not been constituted in the past 25 months.

In July, the MCD said the standing committee had met and a plan to set up an ingesta plant was approved on July 16. The MCD said that the work will be completed within three to six months on the issuance of the work order.