As the controversy over the new cattle slaughter rules is raging across the country, the Kochi Corporation plans to set up a new abattoir at Marakkadavu in West Kochi.
The civic body has earmarked ₹2.9 crore for the project under the People’s Plan Programme to be implemented in the current fiscal.
The proposal was considered at a meeting of the corporation council on Monday.
The project assumes significance in the wake of reports that a large number of animals are illegally slaughtered in the city. The abattoir at Kaloor faces the threat of closure as it has failed to meet the standards prescribed by various agencies.
Once the rules on cattle slaughter are strictly enforced, the abattoir to be managed by the civic body will become the only legal source for meat in the city.
“The civic authorities are planning to set up the facility after preparing a Detailed Project Report,” said C.K. Peter, the councillor who headed project discussions in the animal husbandry sector.
The corporation proposes to set up the plant on its 48-cent holding.
An earlier attempt to open the facility on Private Public Participation mode on the said holding had failed as there had been no takers for the project.
However, the civic body will have to obtain clearances from the Kerala State Pollution Control Board and the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority as the project has been proposed on the banks of a waterbody. An environmental impact assessment may also have to be carried out, Mr. Peter said. The council meeting also cleared a proposal to set up a leachate treatment facility at the municipal solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram.
NGT case
Though the proposal was opposed by some members, Deputy Mayor T.J. Vinod said the facility was necessary for convincing the National Green Tribunal (NGT) of the need for running the Brahmapuram plant, as it was considering a case against it.
“If the NGT orders the closure of the waste treatment plant for want of a leachet treatment facility, the city will be forced into a crisis,” he said.
Defending the proposal, Mr. Vinod said the city would need the existing plant for a few more years till the proposed plant becomes fully operational.
Replying to the demand from Poornima Narayan, chairperson of the education standing committee, and Benedict Fernandez, CPI(M) member, for clarity in the deal for setting up the new plant, Mayor Soumini Jain said a meeting would be called on May 31 to clarify the doubts of civic representatives.
Meanwhile, some councillors took strong exception to a proposal for setting apart ₹30 lakh for the construction of a toilet complex on the Brahmapuram plant campus.
