Proposed centralised abattoir in Capital drags on

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It now appears that the proposed centralised abattoir at Kunnukuzhy in the state capital will take another six moths before it will be commissioned. The Rs 10 crore project was originally scheduled for completion in April 2022. But, with the construction activities still not finished, the deadline could not be met. The undue delay involved has led to another adverse fallout in the form of several illegal slaughter houses operating at various places in the capital city.

Though the corporation had brought in Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company (KEL) to execute the slaughterhouse project, nothing positive has come out of it so far. The contract period for KEL has also been extended as the earlier contract had run out on March 31, 2022.

A source privy to happenings in the civic body  said that only 50 per cent of the civil work had been completed and that it will take six more months for the project to go on stream. Currently KEL has given a sub-contract to a Lucknow-based company for carrying out the work, but it is reportedly progressing at a slow pace.

“A modern slaughterhouse in Thiruvananthapuram is the need of the hour as many illegal slaughterhouses are mushrooming On account of them, which are situated in Poonthura and Muttathara, there has been a rise in bird hit incidents involving flights at the Thiruvananthapuram airport as they are dumping the poultry waste at the same area. So, the corporation should do something about it as we can’t play with the health of the people,” said  Sunil Ananthapadmanabhan, a resident.

Over the past three years, several attempts by the corporation to revive the slaughterhouse have come to nought after initial enthusiasm. Meanwhile, a top corporation official told TNIE that some additional work is yet to begin. “Installation of the machinery for the abattoir is in progress. All the machinery related to the facility has arrived. Now, work on the bio-filter and water tank needs to be started.

We need to prepare an estimate for that purpose. Then, we will invite bids. Since it is an old building, we are verifying whether it can withstand a large water tank. After completing the work, we need to get approval from the Suchitwa Mission. Once it is approved, the facility will be ready for operation. However, the process will take six more months “ the official said. The official  admitted that there was some delay in work due to the pandemic and manpower shortage.