Bhubaneswar, Oct. 12: The civic body will make its modern abattoir at Gadakana operational in January.

The facility was inaugurated on August 31, and the Bhubneswar Municipal Corporation is now looking for its operator.

The abattoir can slaughter 50 bovine animals in a shift through a scientific and hygienic manner. The project will also help the civic body adhere to an apex court ruling about stopping the open slaughter of animals.

The butchers will bring the animals - sheep or goats - to the facility. The operator will slaughter those and hand over the meat over to the sellers. The sellers will have to pay a set fee to the operator.

"The abattoir has a large area, rendering unit and a proper waste disposal facility. Adequate structures, equipment and mechanism have been put in place for proper slaughtering of animals<>. It will help the sellers and citizens get hygienic and safe meat," said city engineer Dwaipayan Pattnaik.

Officials said the operator would take care of the facility for five years. "We have floated a tender to select the operator, which should have the expertise to handle such a facility. It will levy charges for the slaughter and recover its bidding amount," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Sources said the civic body might face a challenge sensitising the sellers to bring their animals to the abattoir. A seller at the Unit-IV market, Farooq Mohammad, said they were sceptical about the facility since they were not aware of how the animals would be butchered. "I sell about two to three goats every day on an average. On some days, the sale goes down because of random reasons. So, I slaughter the animals based on the day's demand. If I take the risk and butcher three animals at the facility and that day's sale is low, I might face a loss," he said.

To overcome the hurdle, the civic body plans to demonstrate the procedure to the sellers. In the initial stages, sellers from two wet markets at Unit-IV and Ghatikia will be sensitised to bring their animals to the facility. "The abattoir is a new concept. Citizens need to be made aware of it, and we will make efforts to sensitise them," Jena said.