KOZHIKODE: Finally, it seems that the city Corporation is making some serious efforts to construct a state-of-the-art abattoir at Kothi.
The Corporation officials say that they plan to implement the project with aid and expertise from the Suchitwa Mission. As the initial process, a detailed project plan was prepared and submitted to the Suchitwa Mission for its nod. “The Corporation engineering wing prepared the project plan for the second time recently and submitted it for consideration of the Suchitwa Mission. As the civic body lacks the expertise, the project report needs to be scrutinised by the Suchitwa Mission officials and accorded technical sanction. After preliminary discussions, it has also been decided that the project will be implemented with the technical expertise of the Suchitwa Mission. Once the technical sanction is accorded, the work can be awarded to an agency approved by the Suchitwa Mission,” says Corporation Secretary B K Balaraj.
Sources say that the proposal is to construct a modern abattoir with advanced facilities to slaughter several cattle at a time. As an initial step, the Corporation will construct a compound wall at the proposed site of around 1.25 acres of land at Kothi. The civic officials say that the slaughterhouse will, in fact, prevent unauthorised killing of animals and reduce pollution as the waste will be disposed of scientifically. However, the officials remain sceptical about the funding for the project. “The Corporation already has `50 lakh in its possession for the project and the Suchitwa Mission has promised to give another `50 lakh as subsidy. It was earlier expected that the project would be completed with a total cost of around `1 crore. But given the cost escalation and the plan to construct a more advanced slaughterhouse, the civic body will now have to find additional funds for the implementation of the project,” the officials say.
Mayor A K Premajam, meanwhile, says that the Corporation will go ahead with the project only after taking the people of Kothi into confidence. “We cannot construct a slaughterhouse and operate it without the backing of the public. In Kothi, people have some apprehensions, and as such steps will be taken to allay their concerns. Recently I met Minister M K Muneer and discussed the matter. We are hopeful of addressing the issues and implementing the project without any further delay.”
The Corporation’s plan to construct a slaughterhouse at Kothi was hit owing to public ire against the proposal and the delay in the acquisition of additional land. Finally, the decks were cleared after the Revenue Department succeeded in acquiring 92.9 cents of land from a private party and handed it over to the Corporation last year. In February 2011, the local court here had banned cattle slaughter and sale of red meat within the city limits, owing to the absence of proper slaughterhouses. However, the owners of meat shops succeeded in obtaining a stay from the court. Since then the sale of meat is going on barring the necessary quality check.