Mumbai News: Gandhi-Founded NGO Moves Bombay HC To Enforce Ban On Slaughterhouses Within 10-Km Airport Radius

An animal rights group founded by Mahatma Gandhi has petitioned the Bombay High Court to enforce aviation rules that prohibit illegal slaughter houses, meat, poultry, and fish shops and non-vegetarian municipal markets operating within a radius of 10 kms from the city’s airports. The petition also asked the court to direct the formation of a committee to monitor the illegal facilities and report the findings to the court.

The writ petition, filed by the Akhil Bharat Krishi Go Seva Sangh against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other government agencies, said that air safety experts have identified bird hits as one of the factors leading to aircraft accidents. The illegal markets around the city’s airport could aggravate the issue, the petition said.

The petitioners said that it was shocking that, despite full knowledge of laws prohibiting such facilities within a 10-km radius of airports, the BMC issued hundreds of permits for the slaughtering of goats at prohibited locations on the eve of Bakrid in 2024 and 2025. This egregious disregard for established safety regulations is inexcusable and puts countless lives at risk. It is shocking that few locations are as close as 2.5 kilometres from the city’s airports, the petition said.

The petitioners said that on June 15, following a complaint from animal rights activists, police raided a slaughter house at Jogeshwari East which had been issued a licence to sell meat. The First Information Report filed against the slaughter house said that the owners violated section 10 of The Aircraft Act, 1934 and other laws and rules that prohibit illegal slaughter houses at a distance of 10 kilometres from the airport. The Jogeshwari slaughter house is located just six kilometres from terminal 1 and 7.5 kilometres from terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, violating The Aircraft Rules, 1937 and The Aircraft Act, 1934. Police rescued 16 goats from the slaughterhouse.

“Our contention is not for removal of meat shop but to implement rules in toto enacted by Director General of Civil Aviation (Aircraft Rules 1967) and by BMC under the Development control regulation for the safety of human beings and properties,” said a spokesperson for Akhil Bharat Krishi Go Seva Sangh, an non-government organisation founded in 1928.

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According to the petitioners, despite repeated complaints and clear evidence of municipal licenses being issued in contravention of aviation safety regulations, the concerned authorities have failed to take effective preventive action. The failure of the respondent no.1 Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to curb open illegal slaughtering, meat shops, poultry shops, improper waste disposal, and illegal activities attracting birds in the vicinity of the Airport area are directly endangering aviation safety and public life, the petitioners said.

In their prayers, the petitioners asked the court to direct the BMC to immediately shut down all illegal slaughter houses, non-vegetarian food markets, licensed / unlicensed meat shops, fish shops and any other such activities currently operational within 10 km radius of aerodrome reference point. The petitioners also asked the court to direct the municipal corporation to refrain from issuing any license or permits, temporary or permanent, within the 10 km radius.