An animal welfare officer has urged the Navi Mumbai police commissioner to register offences against illegal slaughter houses around the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), in wake of the recent Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.
On February 25, The Free Press Journal had reported that NatConnect Foundation had raised concerns regarding the illegal slaughters in Ulwe that can be a potential threat for bird hits to the flights operating from the nearby NMIA. Following the complaint, the Director General of Civil Aviation directed the airport operator to take action against all activities that attract bird activity near the airport. However, the activists have alleged that no action has been taken against these slaughters.
After the recent plane crash in Ahmedabad that killed 241 people onboard, the activists had again written to DGCA alleging inaction against the illegal slaughter of animals and the open sale of meat. On Wednesday, Soorraj Saha, an animal welfare officer appointed by the Bombay High Court and the Maharashtra Government, wrote to the Navi Mumbai police commissioner, urging his intervention in the case.
In his letter to the top police official, he pointed out that the slaughter shops are proliferating in blatant violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. He claimed that he verified the complaints on the ground and found them to be valid but alleged that no action was taken even after he took the case up with the police.
He urged the police commissioner to provide a team of officers along with him who can assist him on the ground to maintain law and order and also book the accused. “Some areas are very close to the Ulwe Airport and it is observed that the raw meat waste which is not disposed properly, attracts many birds for feeding near flying zones and might be a serious threat as learning for the recent disaster occured with Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad in future,” Saha said while also raising concerns regarding the conditions in which the animals are kept, transported and slaughtered at these shops.
NatConnect Foundation’s director BN Kumar had filed a fresh complaint to the prime minister’s office through the public grievance website after no action by the airport authorities were carried out despite DGCA’s directions. “This is a flagrant violation of the aircraft norms of the DGCA which say there shall be no slaughter of animals within 10 km radius of any airport,” Kumar said.
