Nabadwip, Aug. 6: Hindu monks have appealed to the Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, to scrap an abattoir project coming up on the banks of the Ganga here as it, they say, will disturb the sanctity of the birthplace of Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and pollute the river.

The joint appeal was made by the monks of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness, 22 other Vaishnava maths and ashrams in Mayapur and Nabadwip; and the Bharat Sevashram Sangha.

The Rs 4-crore project is funded jointly by the central and state governments and is being implemented by Nabadwip municipality. "The slaughterhouse will disturb the sanctity of the birthplace of Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and pollute the river. Also, its being built close to the samadhi of a Vaishnava monk. We wrote to the Union home minister to scrap the project," said a monk.

The state government is bearing 40 per cent of the project cost and the Centre the rest.

On July 21, the monks met at Iskcon temple at Mayapur and decided to make an appeal to stop the project. "The appeal was made keeping in mind Nabadwip's holy identity as a pilgrimage destination. We do not want a slaughter-house at Nabadwip," said Jagadartiha Das, the head of Iskcon-run Dham Seva Samity in Mayapur.

Today, heads of Vaishnava organisations and temples at Nabadwip held a meeting in Mayapur to decide their future course of action to stop the construction.

After the meet, Swami Bashisthananda, the representative of Bharat Sevashram Sangha's Nabadwip unit, said: "It is unacceptable to allow bloodshed near the samadhi of a Vaishnava monk. Moreover, a slaughter house at the birth place of Sri Chaitanya, who was the icon of non-violence, is unacceptable."

Local MLA and state correctional administration minister Ujjal Biswas met the monks after the meeting and assured them that he would try to stop the abattoir project. He told The Telegraph that a proposal would be sent to the Centre to convert it into a vegetable market.