BANGALORE: Residents of Chandapur and surrounding villages in Anekal taluk of Bangalore Urban district have opposed the BMP decision to set up a modern slaughterhouse on a 40-acre land in Igalur village.

Demanding that the abattoir not be set up in Igalur or anywhere in Karnataka, the residents have threatened to stage a massive protest and form a human chain at Chandapur Circle on Saturday. They also plan to block National Highway 7, which adjoins the villages. The residents have formed a `Federation of Karnataka State Organisations Against Mechanised Slaughterhouse,' to stop the project.

"If the BMP does not consider our demand, we will intensify our agitation," Chandapur Gram Panchayat president R. Nagaratnamma and the federation convener Dayanand Swamy said.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Ms. Nagaratnamma said members of the gram panchayat had adopted a resolution demanding that the slaughterhouse should not come up in Anekal. "Though we have forwarded the resolution to the authorities concerned, including the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Meat and Poultry Marketing Corporation and the jurisdictional tahsildar, it is unfortunate that the BMP is going ahead with its plan," she said.

Mr. Dayanand Swamy said that the land identified for the slaughterhouse was being used by villagers to hold religious functions and the annual `Hosarayappa jatre' in April-May every year. "This site is adjacent to the Karnataka Housing Board's proposed Surya City and very close to Electronics City and Narayana Hrudayalaya. The Kodagikere, which is the main source of water supply to all villages in Anekal taluk, is just next to this land. We will not allow this to happen," Mr. Dayanand Swamy said. He pointed out that Anekal MLA A. Narayana Swamy, who is also against the project, had met the BMP officials recently and urged them not to go ahead with it.

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