Ghaziabad: The carcasses and remains of at least 10 peacocks were found in a Ghaziabad village on Monday, with villagers alleging that toxic smoke emanating from a nearby chemicals factory had caused the deaths.
The allegation by the villagers against the factory prompted district forest officials to rush to Kajipur village, off NH-24. A team from the pollution control board inspected the premises of Shatabdi Chemicals, and ruled out any possibility of toxic smoke.
The carcasses have been sent for autopsy. “On Thursday morning, a villager discovered the carcasses of peacocks on the outskirts of village, after which we went to inspect the area,” said Anand Chowdhary, the local councillor. “Over the next 24 hours, we discovered six peacock carcasses and feathers and remains of four others,” he added.
The villagers said they had long been complaining about Shatabdi Chemicals emitting toxic smoke at nights. They claimed there were over 35 peacocks in the area even six months ago but the number had dwindled to single digits of late.
District forest officer BP Singh said the exact cause of death could only be ascertained after the autopsy report came. Ankit Singh, an assistant engineer of the pollution control board, said: “We checked the entire factory and found no scope of any
toxic fumes.”
Geetansh Gupta, a spokesperson for Shatabdi Chemicals, said: “We have been operating in the area for two decades now and strictly follow environmental norms.”
Peacocks are a protected species under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
