The Satichaura abattoir in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 24: The municipal corporation plans to set up a modern and scientific slaughterhouse here to stop meat sellers from slaughtering animals on roadside.

An official of the corporation said the proposed abattoir would come up in Gadakana on the city outskirts.

City engineer T.B.K. Shroff said around 0.5 acres had been identified in Gadakana where the slaughterhouse would be built.

“The cost of construction of the house with all the facilities has been estimated to be around Rs 4.5 crore. The slaughterhouse will have the capacity of to butcher 106 goats every day. The meat will be collected and processed scientifically there,” said Shroff.

He said that the corporation had called for tenders for construction and operation of the butchery along with its maintenance for 20 years. Agencies having expertise in construction of a knacker’s yard and processing the meat in hygienic conditions have been called for bidding.

A source said that a two-year time limit would be fixed for completion of the construction of the abattoir. A detailed project report in this regard was earlier prepared by the Centre for Environment and Development, Thiruvananthapuram. The report has given stress on slaughtering and processing of animals in hygienic condition by using modern equipment. Another advantage would be the efficient disposal of the wastewater and animal remnants from the abattoir.

The Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund has already sanctioned the money for construction of the slaughterhouse. The corporation would receive fifty per cent of the fund from the OUIDF as grant, while the rest 50 per cent would be considered as loan.

However, mere one slaughterhouse would not be able to meet the meat requirements of the city and the corporation will have to go for more such abattoirs. Earlier, there was plan of setting up five knacker’s yards in the city and one major facility on the outskirts.

Though places such as Gadakana, Ghatikia, Pandara, Dumduma and Vani Vihar had been selected for establishing slaughterhouses, the corporation decided to set up the first one at Gadakana.

Last week, the municipal commissioner and the city health officer had conducted raids on several meat shops around Biju Pattnaik Airport after the airport authorities lodged a complaint with them following several incidents of birds hitting aeroplanes.

City meat sellers’ association secretary Sk Srajan Quereshi said the corporation should provide dedicated space to them for selling meat before carrying out such raids.

“We are not against any development work. But, the authorities should consider our interests too,” said Quereshi.

He said that more than 300 meat sellers were doing business at various parts of the city.

Another municipal corporation official said that once the abattoirs came up, the corporation would start work for dedicated meat selling points or vending zones.

“It will take some time, but such vending zones will be set up in the city,” said the city engineer.