There is no requirement to bring slaughterhouses and meat processing units under the ambit of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, as guidelines and safeguards are already in place to regulate them from an environmental perspective, the Centre has told the National Green Tribunal.

Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi approached the green tribunal last year demanding that slaughterhouses and meat processing units be brought within the ambit of EIA, 2006. She raised concerns regarding over consumption of water at slaughterhouses, contamination of water bodies due to improper solid waste disposal and the risk of zoonotic diseases due to exposure to unhealthy carcasses among others.