The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the chief secretary to give a road map to deal with the issues plaguing cattle dairies in the national capital, including the compliance of dairy owners with the statutory requirements and maintaining hygiene.
Remarking that the administration has turned a “blind eye” to the condition of the dairies and that “citizens can’t consume milk which isn’t safe,” a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said it will initiate a pilot project in Madanpur Khadar Dairy to address issue of mapping, tagging the cattle, use of banned hormone oxytocin, cleanliness and medical care for the cattle there.
The court, which was hearing a petition regarding the state of dairies in Delhi, was earlier informed by the court commissioner that the condition of all nine designated dairy colonies in Delhi, i.e. Kakrola Dairy, Goela Dairy, Nangli Shakrawati Dairy, Jharoda Dairy, Bhalaswa Dairy, Ghazipur Dairy, Shahbad Daulatpur Dairy, Madanpur Khadar Dairy and Masoodpur Dairy, was “bad.” Chief secretary Naresh Kumar, who was virtually present in the hearing, informed the court that a meeting was held with the agencies concerned and a “multi-disciplinary team” would be formed to deal with the issues of cleanliness, licensing etc.
With respect to the court’s query on relocating Ghazipur Dairy and Bhalaswa Dairy as they were located next to “Sanitary Landfill Sites,” Kumar said it would be difficult to shift the dairies but assured that efforts were underway to clear the landfill by 2026.
The court stated that even though licences from MCD, animal husbandry department, DPCC as well as FSSAI are required to run a dairy in Delhi, “everything today was (running) in breach of the statute.” The court also questioned the chief secretary as to how he would ensure that the cattle from Ghazipur and Bhalaswa dairies do not feed on the hazardous waste.
“We don’t want to uproot anyone. (But) the administration has turned a blind eye,” the court remarked, adding that it was not even asking about the illegal dairies at this stage.
It also raised issues of testing of milk and milk products in the national capital, especially from these two dairies, and said until responsibility is fixed on some officers, “nothing will move.” “How will you ensure that till 2026 the cattle do not feed on hazardous waste? And what sort of testing is going on to ensure that the milk that is being produced in these dairies is not contaminated and it is not affecting our food cycle?” it asked.
“What is the sort of milk which is being used in the production of sweets, in the production of chocolates? How it is entering our food cycle, no one knows… For the last few years we have been having certain products which may not have been very safe for us,” the court added.
The court also asked the chief secretary to visit a few dairies as it observed that the field officers are not aware of the ground reality.
“Your field officers are not going at the ground. They are not visiting the area and they have no idea what is going on,” it said.
During the hearing, the court stated that cattle can’t be locked up and they need green areas and asked the chief secretary to give the date with respect to their numbers in the dairies.
It said the existing dairies may not be interested in shifting to new locations on account of lack of facilities there and asked officials to ensure that the land at one such new site, Goga dairy, is not lost to encroachment.
The court also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to file an affidavit stating the efforts to trace the source of banned hormone oxytocin in dairies.
The Delhi Police counsel said investigation in the FIRs registered in relation to the use of the hormone was underway. “If police is feeling handicapped, we will transfer it to the CBI,” the court said, directing that the matter be listed for hearing on May 27.
Earlier, the court had directed the city authorities to take action against the spurious use of oxytocin in dairy colonies, saying that administration of the hormone amounts to animal cruelty and is an offence.
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