Bhubaneswar, June 12: The municipal corporation's plan to set up a modern slaughterhouse at Gadakana will shortly become a reality with the project reaching its final stage and civic authorities working on a war footing.

With the completion of the abattoir, the civic authorities will be able to ensure hygienic and scientific slaughtering of animals. This will improve the city's hygiene level and that of meat shops. The project will also help the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) abide by the apex court ruling, which had ordered a ban on open slaughtering of animals.

"Our executing partner is working hard to complete construction of city's first slaughterhouse. We are hopeful of completing the project by the end of September. We have also decided to have three more such facilities in the city and asked councillors to identify suitable land for the project," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, adding that it would be equipped with modern facilities such as meat processing unit, cold storage and cold chain transportation.

However, it took nearly six years for the civic body to reach the final stages of the project. The project was originally planned in 2011 when the BMC decided to construct five modern abattoirs at Gadakana, Vani Vihar, Pandara, Dumduma and Ghatikia, respectively. It began work on the one at Gadakana, but couldn't go ahead following opposition from local residents at the other locations.

"Gadakana residents were initially confused about the abattoir. They were under the impression that it would pollute the locality and create an unhygienic environment. We tried to make them understand and finally succeeded and will now be able to go ahead with the project," said a BMC official, adding that the other projects were dropped because of unsuitable sites.

The BMC will execute the project with its partner Centre for Environment and Development (CED), a Thiruvananthapuram-based agency, known to provide consultancy to the Union urban development ministry in similar projects across India. The BMC will spend Rs 6.4 crore on the project.

Environmentalists also welcomed the move to set up the facility. "Animals are slaughtered in places polluted with blood, intestinal contents and dirty effluents. These places are not protected against insects, rodents and dogs. Meat produced under such conditions will quickly deteriorate due to bacterial load and could cause food poisoning," said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.

Local resident Jayanta Patra told The Telegraph there was still some confusion regarding the project. "More than 100 animals will be slaughtered at this facility, which created fear of our locality getting dirty as wastewater and slaughter remains will be discharged in the surroundings causing bad smell. However, the officials have assured us this won't happen and we visited the facility to inspect the viability of the promise," said Patra, adding that they were satisfied.