New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Centre to look for feasibility of shifting the Ghazipur and Bhalswa dairies to alternate sites outside the city, saying they can not be situated next to landfill sites as it is very dangerous.
The high court also pulled up the city authorities for not taking adequate steps to improve the “pitiable and unhygienic conditions” of the dairies.
“They (MCD officials) are just misleading us and they think they will get away. Normally we don’t keep a check and balance but here we directed the DSLSA (Delhi State Legal Services Authority) to get involved,” the court said.
There is a registrar level officer who is involved in this, it said, and added that officers are still living in some “world of theirs”.
“I am telling you, you will bear the costs for this, for shifting of dairies and for causing inconvenience to the public at large — The MCD and the Delhi government and no one else,” a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan told the counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi government.
The bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet P S Arora, said it will pass a detailed order in this regard.
“You (Centre) find some alternative land for Ghazipur and Bhalawa dairies and come back to us. We will shift them. They can’t be next to a landfill. It is very dangerous.
“Some grand wall is being built which is only supposed to be like a Chinese wall. I don’t know where they get that concept from. Each wall will get breached,” Justice Manmohan said.
As the Centre’s counsel said the alternative land would have to be searched in neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the bench said, “Wherever, but do it with a proper action plan.” The bench said it was not doing this for its personal benefit but was concerned about the next generation of the city which cannot be made to consume sub standard milk.
“It is not for our personal benefit. We are only concerned about the next generation. You want everyone to suffer from cancer in the city?,” it told the MCD’s counsel, adding that “it is very difficult for us to ask the entire citizens of the state to turn vegans. It can’t be”.
The court had earlier said an alternate land within Delhi or outside would be required for shifting the Ghazipur and Bhalswa dairies and made the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as a party to the case.
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 — Kakrola Dairy, Goela Dairy, Nangli Shakrawati Dairy, Jharoda Dairy, Bhalaswa Dairy, Ghazipur Dairy, Shahbad Daulatpur Dairy, Madanpur Khadar Dairy and Masoodpur Dairy — was “bad”.
The court had earlier asked the chief secretary to give a road map to deal with the issues plaguing cattle dairies, including the compliance of dairy owners with the statutory requirements and maintaining hygiene in the national capital.
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”, the court had said it will initiate a pilot project in Madanpur Khadar Dairy to address the issue of mapping, tagging the cattle, use of banned hormone oxytocin, cleanliness and medical care for the cattle there.
Earlier, the court had directed the city authorities to take action against the spurious use of oxytocin in dairy colonies, saying administration of the hormone amounts to animal cruelty and is an offence. PTI SKV ADS SKV KSS KSS
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