Cuttack, Oct. 2: Officials of Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTET) have demanded that the old slaughterhouse-cum-sale centre for big animals, better known as Kilkhana, located close to its office here be relocated on grounds of foul smell emanating from the area.

A source said DTET director Balwant Singh had written to municipal commissioner Bikah Mohapatra a week ago urging him to relocate the slaughterhouse as foul smell emanating from the place created inconvenience for officials and staff members.

The municipal commissioner told The Telegraph that he had received a letter from Singh and issued notices to the parties concerned.

'Relocation of the Kilkhana had not been possible so far because of non-availability of suitable land,' Mohapatra said.

In 2013, Orissa High Court ordered closure of the slaughterhouse after receiving complaints that it was causing air and water pollution in the area, which also has an eye hospital.

Big animals are no more slaughtered at Kilkhana after a ban by the civic administration. Instead, the slaughter takes place at Odia Bazar, Baunsagali, Diwan Bazar and Mahamadia Bazar.

Beef is still transported to Kilkhana for sale by trolley rickshaws. Once the meet is sold, the bones are stored there for two to three weeks and before being transported out. During the storage period, foul smell emanates from the area, Mohapatra said.

Environment activist Pravat Ranjan Dash said: 'The stink from the abattoir makes passing through the area a nauseating experience.'

The civic body begun scouting for a land to relocate the Kilkhana in 2009. It had planned to demolish it after construction of an abattoir for big animals and an alternative vending place for selling beef.

The civic body had included an overall project cost of Rs 1 crore in its 2017-18 budget for construction of a modern abattoir for big animals in Cuttack.

'The project can be taken up only after a suitable land is found,' the municipal commissioner said.

An official source said the district administration had provided a plot at Kantilo on the eastern fringe of the city in 2009. But there was stiff opposition from local residents as the plot was close to a residential area with several temples. They claimed it could harm the area's religious sanctity.

In 2010, the administration provided a plot at Brajabiharipur in the western fringes of the city, but local residents objected to slaughtering big animals in their area.

Finally, in 2013, the district administration provided land at Bharandi within the municipal limits close to Choudwar and near Jagatpur in 2014. But the beef vendors raised objection on grounds of distance, leaving the civic administration in a quandary. Demolition of Kilkhana had since remained on the back burner.