KOCHI
Illegal slaughtering of animals for meat is thriving in Kochi, posing a serious risk to public health even as the only abattoir that was functioning in the city was closed down the other day.
The Kochi Corporation had to close down the abattoir in Kaloor after the Kerala State Pollution Control Board objected to the unit functioning there.
It was the pollution caused by the waste from the abattoir that prompted the board to act against the unit. There were complaints that the blood and other refuse from the unit were being dumped into the Mullassery canal. The plant was functioning on an ad hoc basis for the past few years. The board had also been issuing show cause and closure notices for quite some time.
The abattoir that was functioning at Mattanchery too was closed down some time ago, leaving the room open for illegal slaughter of animals.
The absence of the licensed and scientific slaughter houses in the city may put meat consumers to risk. The consumption of meat is expected to go up significantly in the coming weeks during the festival season.
According to T. K. Ashraf, chairman of the Health Standing Committee, the local body will decide on setting up a temporary facility shortly as the unit at Kaloor had to be shut down.
It will not be a feasible proposal to make a big investment for a temporary slaughter house at Kaloor as the project for setting up a modern unit is in the pipeline. A new unit will be set up by spending ₹12 crore with the support of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. Tenders for setting up the unit have been floated, he said.
A decision on the temporary abattoir will be taken in consultation with the Mayor, he said.
At the same time, the Opposition councillors slammed the civic administration for the situation which led to the closure of the Kaloor unit.
The corporation chose to continuously ignore the show cause notices issued by the board regarding the pollution caused by the unit. Had the civic administration acted on time, the situation could have been avoided, said Antony Kureethara, leader of the Congress in the council.
