Delhi HC reprimands authorities for norm violations at diary colonies

The Delhi high court has observed that state functionaries lack the will to stop violations of norms by dairy owners in the nine designated dairy colonies in the Capital and reprimanded the agencies concerned for “dereliction of duty”. Gavel and law books In its May 27 order, released on Thursday, a bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora rebuked the authorities after considering the Delhi government’s submissions that none of the dairies had a licence under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Act from animal husbandry department, or no objection certificates from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. In its 10-page order, the court, after perusing the photographs showing cattle grazing near sanitary landfill sites and sitting on/eating garbage at Bhalswa dairies, underscored the broader implications of such violations on public health and the animals housed in the dairy colonies. On May 8, the high court, underlining the serious threat posed by consuming milk produced from dairies located near landfills, directed the Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar to consider its suggestion to relocate the two dairies to Ghogha dairy.