Delhi HC expresses concern over lives of dairy owners, cattle living near landfill sites
The Delhi High Court on Friday expressed concern over the “life” of dairy owners and their livestock, who are residing near landfill sites in the Capital and insisted that the authorities must take steps to relocate them.
The court, which was dealing with a batch of petitions on the issue of “unhygienic dairies”, said: “We have sympathy for you [dairy owners]. You people are living next to a sanitary landfill. Your life is also under threat like the life of your animals. You people must realise this and the government must accommodate you somewhere else if they cannot remove the mountain of garbage”.
Earlier, the court had directed the shifting of the Bhalswa Dairy colony in view of the “inability” of authorities, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the city government, to take action to stop milch cattle from feeding on garbage from the sanitary landfills near the Bhalswa and Ghazipur dairies. The court also said cows cannot be allowed to graze on toxic waste.
The case deals with the condition of nine designated dairy colonies in Delhi — Kakrola Dairy, Goela Dairy, Nangli Shakrawati Dairy, Jharoda Dairy, Bhalswa Dairy, Ghazipur Dairy, Shahbad Daulatpur Dairy, Madanpur Khadar Dairy and Masoodpur Dairy.
Shut or shift
During the hearing, some dairy owners from Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Madanpur Khadar said they would either close down their respective establishments or shift to another location in eight weeks.
The court, which took exception to the construction of unauthorised commercial buildings on land allotted to certain dairy colonies as well as poor cleanliness, remarked that if the owners close the dairies or relocate, it would bring an end to the issue.
“We are trying to ensure that healthy milk is available in Delhi. We do not want the next generation to be sick, infirm and suffering from diseases. A lot of us are turning vegan,” said the court, which will hear the matter again next week.
Read Comments
- Copy link
- Telegram
READ LATER
Remove
SEE ALL
PRINT