Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Wednesday. Vishal Srivastav
The state Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposal to amend the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959, and Uttar Pradesh Nagar Palika Act, 1916, whereby municipal corporations and boards will not operate or set up slaughterhouses, but only regulate them. The amendment also proposed that slaughterhouses will be shifted outside city limits. Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said that since the House is not in session, the government will come out with an ordinance for these amendments.
Singh said the main spirit of the ordinance will be to ensure that slaughterhouses are taken out of the cities. He said that as per the existing Acts, municipal corporations and boards can operate, establish and regulate slaughterhouses. But, after the proposed amendment, civic bodies will only regulate them.
“Hum chalana aur banana hata rahe hain, aur khali regulation par le ja rahe hain. Sarkar ka kaam regulation hain (We are removing the operating and establishing part and only keeping the regulation provision. Government’s job is only to regulate,” said Singh.
The minister further said that while initial approval has been given, a detailed policy will be formed later. He said that both the NGT and the court have directed in the past that there should not be slaughterhouses within the city limits and no slaughter can take place outside abattoirs. He said the step will curb pollution and health hazards.
A government spokesperson said in an statement, “Section 429 and 430 of Uttar Pradesh Municipal Act, 1959 are in direct conflict with the Central Act — Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 — and its corresponding rules as well as Food Security Act and its rules of 2006. Thus, sections 429 and 430 will be removed, while section 114 (21) and Section 422 will be amended.”
In another significant decision, Cabinet cleared the proposal for metro projects in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut, which will be constructed with support from the central government. As per the proposal, Agra Metro project will incur a cost of Rs 13,000 crore. It will have two corridors of 30 km with 30 stations. Kanpur Metro project will cost around Rs 17,000 crore and have two 30 km corridors with 31 stations. In Meerut, the project will cost Rs 13,800 crore having 33km-long corridors. Singh said that both the state and the Centre will fund these projects and deadline for their completion is 2024. The projects will be undertaken on the basis of equity sharing of 50:50 per cent between the state and the Centre.