THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city corporation has got technical sanction from the Suchitwa Mission to move forward with the maintenance work of the old slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy.
A slaughterhouse has been a long pending demand after the old one owned by the corporation at Kunnukuzhy was closed down in 2013. The only slaughterhouse under the city corporation was closed after it failed to manage the waste generated in a scientific way in the absence of a centralised waste treatment plant.
The new slaughterhouse will ensure that the public gets safe meat for consumption and manage animal waste in a scientific manner.
The latest DPR proposes a facility which can deal with 50 cattle and 25 small-sized animals, including goat and sheep. “The cost for laying the new slaughterhouse was estimated to be Rs 33 crore. The latest DPR proposed a project to modernise the old slaughterhouse, including maintenance work. The proposed project is estimated to cost only Rs 9.5 crore and hence the project can be handled at low cost,” said Mayor V K Prasanth.
The tender for the project will be floated by next week. A technical committee will be formed to handle the maintenance work of the slaughterhouse. The committee member includes skilled persons from various departments - Dr Sadhu Tankachan, assistant professor, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Dr Mohanan, consultant, Kunnukuzhy slaughterhouse, city corporation engineer Renju, Suchitwa Mission, Dr Sreerag, veterinary surgeon, corporation and Dr Shelva Kumar, veterinary surgeon, Farm information Bureau.
Over the past five years, the Corporation has made repeated attempts to revive the slaughterhouse, but all of it failed after the initial enthusiasm. Though the civic body had called for an Expression of Interest (EoI) from companies to modernise the slaughterhouse, all of them dropped out citing various reasons.
In the absence of a slaughterhouse, illegal units have flourished across the city, sometimes even operating from households. Most of these units operate in unhygienic surroundings. The absence of a legal slaughterhouse had also prevented the corporation authorities from launching a full-fledged drive against illegal ones.
Slaughterhouse
The slaughterhouse will have an effluent treatment plant and a rendering plant which can turn all waste to animal feed. “The rendering plant will process the left over, non-edible portions of the chicken such as head, feet, intestines and feathers. These wastes will be cooked at high pressure and will be converted into value-added products, that can be used as manure and also as animal feed,” said Dr Sreerag, Corporation veterinary surgeon.