New Delhi: 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 compliance of statutory requirements and maintaining cleanliness by dairy owners.
Noting that the administration has "turned a blind eye" to the condition of dairies and "citizens cannot consume milk that is not safe," a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan Singh said it would conduct a pilot project in Madanpur. Will start. Khadar Dairy will address the issue of mapping, tagging of cattle, use of banned hormone oxytocin, sanitation and medical care for the cattle.
“Give us a roadmap. There is no such roadmap.These ad-hoc decisions will not work unless you have a proper roadmap or a proper plan... We don't even know how big the problem is, how many cattle are we dealing with?" the bench remarked, Which also included Justice Manmeet PS Arora. The court, which was hearing a petition regarding the condition of dairies in Delhi, was earlier informed by the Court Commissioner that all the nine designated dairy colonies in Delhi, i.e. Kakrola Dairy, The condition of Goela Dairy, Nangal Shakrawati Dairy, Jharoda Dairy, Ghazipur Dairy, Shahba Daulatpur Dairy, Madanpur Khadar Dairy and Masoodpur Dairy was "poor".
Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who was present at the hearing virtually, informed the court that a meeting was held with the agencies concerned and a "multi-disciplinary team" would be formed to deal with issues like sanitation, licensing etc.
Regarding the court's question on shifting Ghazipur Dairy and Bhalswa Dairy as they were located next to "sanitary landfill sites", Kumar said it would be difficult for me to shift the dairies, but assured that the landfill would be decommissioned by 2026. Efforts to clean up are ongoing.The court said that even though running a dairy in Delhi requires licenses from MCD, Animal Husbandry Department, DPCC as well as FSSAI, "everything was being run today in violation of law."
The court also questioned the Chief Secretary as to how he would ensure that cattle from Ghazipur and Bhalswa dairies do not consume hazardous waste.
“We can't find any proper way to ensure compliance with the laws there. I can make sure of that, good luck to you. We just want to be in line with the law.We do not want anyone's health to be affected. No one should be doomed to eat dangerous things, the court said. “We do not want to uproot anyone,” the court remarked. (But) the administration has turned a blind eye,” he said, adding that it was not even asking about 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 unless I fix the responsibility on some officials, "nothing will happen."
“How do you ensure that cattle are not eating hazardous waste by 2026 and what type of testing is being done to ensure that the milk produced in these dairies is not contaminated and is not impacting our food cycle?” It asked."What kind of milk is that which is being used in the production of sweets, in the production of chocolate? How it is entering our food cycle, no one knows.. For the last few years we have had some such products Which may not have been very safe for us,'' the court said.
The court also asked the Chief Secretary to visit some dairies as it found that the field officers were not aware of the ground reality.
It said, “Your field officers are not going to the field. They are not visiting the area and they have no idea what is happening.“During the hearing the court said that cattle cannot be caged and green area is needed and asked the Chief Secretary to give the date regarding their numbers in dairies.
It said existing dairies may not be interested in shifting to the new location due to lack of facilities there and asked officials to ensure that at such a new location, the land of Goga Dairy is not wasted due to encroachment .
The court also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to file an affidavit regarding efforts to trace the source of the banned hormone oxytocin in dairies. The Delhi Police counsel said the FIRs filed in connection with the use of the hormone are under investigation.
Directing the case to be listed for hearing on May 27, the court said, "If the police is feeling incompetent, we will transfer it to the CBI."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 a crime.
Noting that the administration has "turned a blind eye" to the condition of dairies and "citizens cannot consume milk that is not safe," a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan Singh said it would conduct a pilot project in Madanpur. Will start. Khadar Dairy will address the issue of mapping, tagging of cattle, use of banned hormone oxytocin, sanitation and medical care for the cattle.
“Give us a roadmap. There is no such roadmap.These ad-hoc decisions will not work unless you have a proper roadmap or a proper plan... We don't even know how big the problem is, how many cattle are we dealing with?" the bench remarked, Which also included Justice Manmeet PS Arora. The court, which was hearing a petition regarding the condition of dairies in Delhi, was earlier informed by the Court Commissioner that all the nine designated dairy colonies in Delhi, i.e. Kakrola Dairy, The condition of Goela Dairy, Nangal Shakrawati Dairy, Jharoda Dairy, Ghazipur Dairy, Shahba Daulatpur Dairy, Madanpur Khadar Dairy and Masoodpur Dairy was "poor".
Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who was present at the hearing virtually, informed the court that a meeting was held with the agencies concerned and a "multi-disciplinary team" would be formed to deal with issues like sanitation, licensing etc.
Regarding the court's question on shifting Ghazipur Dairy and Bhalswa Dairy as they were located next to "sanitary landfill sites", Kumar said it would be difficult for me to shift the dairies, but assured that the landfill would be decommissioned by 2026. Efforts to clean up are ongoing.The court said that even though running a dairy in Delhi requires licenses from MCD, Animal Husbandry Department, DPCC as well as FSSAI, "everything was being run today in violation of law."
The court also questioned the Chief Secretary as to how he would ensure that cattle from Ghazipur and Bhalswa dairies do not consume hazardous waste.
“We can't find any proper way to ensure compliance with the laws there. I can make sure of that, good luck to you. We just want to be in line with the law.We do not want anyone's health to be affected. No one should be doomed to eat dangerous things, the court said. “We do not want to uproot anyone,” the court remarked. (But) the administration has turned a blind eye,” he said, adding that it was not even asking about 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 unless I fix the responsibility on some officials, "nothing will happen."
“How do you ensure that cattle are not eating hazardous waste by 2026 and what type of testing is being done to ensure that the milk produced in these dairies is not contaminated and is not impacting our food cycle?” It asked."What kind of milk is that which is being used in the production of sweets, in the production of chocolate? How it is entering our food cycle, no one knows.. For the last few years we have had some such products Which may not have been very safe for us,'' the court said.
The court also asked the Chief Secretary to visit some dairies as it found that the field officers were not aware of the ground reality.
It said, “Your field officers are not going to the field. They are not visiting the area and they have no idea what is happening.“During the hearing the court said that cattle cannot be caged and green area is needed and asked the Chief Secretary to give the date regarding their numbers in dairies.
It said existing dairies may not be interested in shifting to the new location due to lack of facilities there and asked officials to ensure that at such a new location, the land of Goga Dairy is not wasted due to encroachment .
The court also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to file an affidavit regarding efforts to trace the source of the banned hormone oxytocin in dairies. The Delhi Police counsel said the FIRs filed in connection with the use of the hormone are under investigation.
Directing the case to be listed for hearing on May 27, the court said, "If the police is feeling incompetent, we will transfer it to the CBI."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 a crime.
