Cuttack: City residents on Friday launched a protest to demand immediate relocation of the old slaughter house-cum-sale centre for big animals, known as kilkhana, from the heart of the city.

People from various institutions and organisations squatted on the roadside near Barabati Stadium for hours and voiced their demand for relocation of the slaughterhouse. They said their repeated appeals to the Cuttack Municipal Corporation in this regard yielded no result.

"It is high time the kilkhana is relocated as the foul smell emanating from it is unbearable and causing inconvenience to one and all in the area. Besides, it is a source of huge pollution," said Lala Debendra Kumar Ray, secretary of staff coordination committee at the office of the director of technical education and skill development, located adjacent to the slaughterhouse.

"Working in the office is a nauseating experience due to the stinking smell. The stink is unbearable when there is breeze," said Suresh Kumar Mohanty, president of ministerial staff committee at the office of director of industries, which is also located there.

"It is strange that the authorities have not shifted the slaughterhouse even after the high court had ordered its closure more than four years ago," said Byapti Patnaik, secretary of the Council of Cultural Growth & Cultural Relations, an NGO.

Orissa High Court ordered closure of the old slaughterhouse in 2013 after receiving complaints that it was causing immense air and water pollution in the area, which also houses an eye hospital apart from government offices and the Barabati Stadium.

Civic commissioner Bika-sh Ranjan Mohapatra said on Friday that relocation was not possible so far due to non-availability of a suitable land.

In its budget for 2017-18, the civic body had included provision for a Rs 1-crore modern abattoir for big animals. "The construction of a new slaughterhouse can be taken up only after a suitable land is available," Mohapatra said.