NGT panel tells BBMP to modernise Tannery Road slaughterhouse to protect Ulsoor lake

The panel had said that discharge from the Tannery Road slaughterhouse directly entered the lake

A joint committee set up by the National Green Tribunal to study the pollution of Ulsoor Lake in Bengaluru has asked the BBMP to modernise its slaughterhouse at Tannery Road by March 31, 2024.

“Ensure implementation of long term measures such as modernisation of the abattoir installation of effluent treatment plant to achieve zero liquid discharge and biogas plant for solid waste at M/s BBMP Civil Slaughter House as proposed by BBMP by March 31, 2024," the joint committee said in its report submitted to the NGT.

Earlier, the National Green Tribunal's Southern Bench had formed a joint committee and sought a report on the cause of Ulsoor Lake pollution and preventive measures. The panel had said that discharge from the slaughterhouse directly entered the lake as it was not being treated properly due to not functioning of the STP.

The panel in its latest recommendation also said that till the slaughterhouse modernised, the BBMP should ensure effluent generated in M/s BBMP Civil Slaughter House is transported and treated at CETP (central effluent treatment plant).

The panel report also said that the BBMP in turn has assured that it would modernise the slaughterhouse by providing new infrastructure including building, slaughtering and meat processing as modern abattoir protocols.

The BBMP also informed the NGT that it will set up an effluent treatment plant with zero liquid discharge with the latest available technology – a vacuum evaporation system. Setting up a biogas plant where solid waste will be processed. Gas generated shall be used to produce power for use within a modernized abettor.

The panel said the BWSSB should ensure the implementation of rainwater harvesting with respect to providing rain harvesting structures by the owner or occupier of the residential building.

Complete the installation of silt traps and trash barriers in stormwater drains, cascading aerators for discharge of treated sewage, and diffused aeration system at lake by March 31, 2023, the panel said.

The panel asked the Department of Fisheries to carry out a periodic study of bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the tissues of fishes and monitor water quality in Ulsoor Lake.