MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, will convene a meeting in New Delhi on January 7, on the national highway works in Dakshina Kannada.
The discussion will be on the works on NH 66 from Talapady to Kundapur, NH 77 on B C Road to Addahole, NH 169 on Karkala to Mangaluru, the overbridge on NH 66 at KPT, the underpass at Baikampady, the bridge across River Phalguni at Kuloor under the Bharatmala project and the shifting of the Surathkal toll gate, among other issues.
Abattoir
Kateel, along with a delegation of the Gau Samrakshana Prakoshta, BJP Karnataka, met Sadhvi Niranjan Jyothi, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industry, and appealed to her to direct the Mangaluru City Corporation not to modernise the existing slaughterhouse at Kudroli.
They also requested the minister to ensure the new slaughterhouse is built outside city limits.
In a memorandum submitted to the minister, Vinay L Shetty, Prakoshta co-convener, said that pre mortem at the slaughterhouse is only an eyewash. Nearly 200 animals are tested pre mortem within two hours, which is against the rules, he complained.
“According to experts, it is not possible to modernise the slaughterhouse at the present location. For the last 12 years, the Corporation Commissioner has been submitting affidavits to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Supreme Court, stating that the slaughterhouse will be shifted to the outskirts of Mangaluru city,” Shetty told the minister.
Modernisation
The memorandum said, “District In-charge Minister U T Khader has prevailed upon Mangaluru Smart City Ltd to consider modernising the existing slaughterhouse at a cost of Rs 15 crore by flouting the rules and regulations. The existing slaughterhouse has no basic facilities such as drain and cannot comply to the legal requirements and directions of the Supreme Court.”
The delegation appealed to the minister to direct both, the Corporation and the Mangaluru Smart City Ltd, to drop the proposal to upgrade the existing slaughterhouse at Kudroli in the city.