Cattle dairies: Delhi HC pulls up authorities, says experts being guided by narrow political interests

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday lambasted the authorities over their failure to take action on the issues plaguing cattle dairies in the national capital, saying there is complete lack of intent to do anything and even the experts are being guided by narrow political interests.

The high court expressed shock over the poor and "haunted" condition of a veterinary hospital in Goga dairy in Bawana here and said it seems that no one visited there for the last five years as it is so deserted that 12-feet long weeds are growing all over.

On being informed by the Animal Husbandry department officials that presently there are 1,600 cattle in Goga dairy and on an average there is one doctor available per 5,000 animals, the court said the ratio is so poor that no wonder nobody wants to go to the rehabilitation dairies.

"You are saying the hospital is fully functional but the photographs show it is not functional. You have given an additional charge to the doctor even when there are 1,600 animals here. It is such a large number. The condition of the hospital is haunted. No one has visited there in the last five years, not even animals", a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said.

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".

With respect to the court's query on relocating Ghazipur Dairy and Bhalaswa Dairy as they were located next to "Sanitary Landfill Sites", the MCD counsel said they are considering it but it would be difficult to shift the dairies soon.

The court also pulled up the officers for not being present on ground level and asked why they are being paid salaries.

"There are no medicines. The doctor is on part time. You might even shut the hospital as there are not 5,000 animals. There is a complete lack of intent to do anything. Go and hold a meeting at Bhalaswa dairy then you will realise the situation", it said.

The high court told Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who was virtually present in the hearing, that things were not moving and the situation at the ground level was entirely different and asked the bureaucrat to take strict action in the matter and ensure that the officers work on ground level.

"Things are pathetic at the ground level. If your officers are too big to go to the spots, what can we say? If you want the city to have contaminated milk, we will have it. We have had it for 20 years, we will have it for some more years", the bench said and added "we don’t think the Delhi administration exists at ground level".

The court asked the MCD counsel and the Animal Husbandry department officials as to how dairies are being allowed to operate next to toxic waste.

"I think it is time to scrap the animal husbandry department. It is not doing anything except to contribute to the mess. You don’t want your next generation to be healthy? It will not spare anyone, neither your next generation, nor our next generation", Justice Manmohan said.

The bench further said, "Don’t be guided by narrow political interests. The experts have become more politically inclined rather than politicians. If the city cannot accommodate it (dairies), it will have to go out of the city. Complete indiscipline has broken down in the city because the experts are being guided by narrow political considerations. We will not feel shy of passing a strong order". Raising the issues of testing of milk and milk products in the national capital, the court asked the Delhi government officials to explain as to how there was variation in the reports prepared by them and the Central government on presence of banned hormone oxytocin in dairy products.

The bench noted that as per the report of the Central government, out of 58 samples taken from two dairy areas, oxytocin was found in 26. However, the Delhi government’s report showed that out of 177 samples, oxytocin was found in only 2.

"You want people in the city to die of cancer because milk is contaminated. You want us to have this milk. Animals who give us milk are feeding upon garbage. We are having sweets made of this milk", the bench said.

To this, the Delhi government official maintained that the reports were genuine and that they will take more samples and submit the report to the court.

The court said it will pass appropriate order in the matter and listed it for further hearing on July 12.

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.