State’s only modern abattoir awaits biz despite infra, slashed rates

Punjab’s only modern slaughterhouse, built in 2021 to ‘clean up’ Ludhiana’s meat trade, is now struggling to remain in business. The facility, spread over three acres in Haibowal suburb located on the city’s outskirts, was set up on the orders of the National Green Tribunal. It was meant to end the illegal and unhygienic slaughter of animals in back-alley shops and stop the flow of untreated waste water into the city’s drains. But four years later, little seems to have changed.

Every day, nearly 40,000 animals and birds are slaughtered across Ludhiana to meet the city’s appetite for meat. But only a few hundred of these — almost 300 to 500 — are brought to the official abattoir. The rest are slaughtered in small shops, often in unsanitary conditions, with no checks on the health of the animals or the cleanliness of the process.

The slaughter house was designed to be a game-changer. It has a permanent veterinarian to examine animals, a chilling unit to preserve meat, a blood processing system and even an effluent treatment plant to handle waste. But despite all this, the facility remains largely empty.

Ritesh Taneja, the private contractor who runs the abattoir, says he’s facing huge losses. “I pay ₹35 lakh a year to the municipal corporation and another ₹25 lakh to the staff and for maintenance. But the meat sellers don’t bring their animals here,” he says, and adds that, “Sometimes, not even a single animal is brought here in a day.”

Taneja has written to the MC, asking to end his contract. But instead of letting him go, officials have promised to crack down on illegal slaughtering. “They say they’ll take action against shopkeepers, but nothing really has changed,” he said.

Municipal Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal insisted that the drive had already begun. “We’ve sealed several shops and more action will be taken soon,” he says. To attract more shopkeepers, the slaughter charges have also been slashed — from ₹150 to ₹50 for goats and sheep, and from ₹10 to ₹5 for poultry. Still, the numbers haven’t improved.

Shopkeepers, on the other hand, say the system doesn’t work for them.

One meat seller in Chander Nagar said, “Customers want fresh meat, right in front of their eyes,” he says. “If we bring meat from the plant, we need proper storage. Otherwise, it goes bad.”

Environmental activists are also raising alarms. Gurpreet Singh Micky, a poultry farmer and an environmentalist, says the waste from illegal slaughtering is polluting the city’s drainage system and harming public health. “Ludhiana consumes 40,000 to 50,000 animals and birds every day. Where do you think all that blood and waste goes?” he asks. He has been writing letters to the MC and the National Green Tribunal in this regard.

The slaughter house was the first of its kind in the region, built with the aim of introducing order and hygiene to a previously unregulated trade. But today, it stands as a symbol of a system that looks good on paper, but is struggling to survive in business.

Punjab