THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The commissioning of the modern centralised abattoir, under construction at Kunnukuzhy in the capital, will likely be delayed as it has not yet received technical sanction from the Suchitwa Mission to set up an effluent treatment plant.
Sources said the Suchitwa Mission detected some defects in the design of the proposed plant and had asked to revise it. The corporation can only commission this project after getting a nod from the Kerala State Pollution Control Board. This approval will only be granted after the construction of the treatment plant.
The Rs 10-crore project, originally scheduled to open in April 2022, was delayed due to the slow pace of the construction activities. Later, the city corporation tried to open it in May and June. Now, the abattoir is only likely to be operational in September.
Binu Francis, the corporation secretary, told TNIE that the Suchitwa Mission had found some defects, and hence the corporation needs to resubmit the project for the treatment plant again. “We will resubmit it for technical sanction. Once we get the sanction, we will start the construction.
After that, we will submit it to the pollution control board for the final nod. If we get approval, we will decide on starting the abattoir’s operations. It will take three more months, at least, for these processes. We expect to start the abattoir’s operations by September,” Francis said.
In addition to the effluent treatment plant, the installation of machinery at the rendering plant, plumbing works, the installation of a transformer, and landscaping works are also pending. Only the civil works have been completed.
Two trees need to be cut down for the installation of the transformer. For that, the corporation’s approval is also pending. The rendering plant will crush the bones and skins of the meat from the abattoir units. These will be treated into biogas at the effluent treatment plant. As per the abattoir’s current capacity, 120 animals can be slaughtered simultaneously without creating pollution.
Earlier, pollution control board had sealed the only authorised slaughterhouse owned by the corporation in 2012 as it did not have a proper waste disposal mechanism. Since then, several efforts initiated by the civic body to reopen the abattoir have failed, leading to a mushrooming of illegal outlets in the capital.
With the establishment of the modern abattoir, illegal slaughterhouses in the city will be closed down. The other main advantage of a centralised abattoir is that instances of birds hitting aircraft while landing at the airport could be avoided as the birds’ density is high due to the slaughterhouse at Poonthura and surrounding areas.
Rs 10 crores project