KOCHI: Stench, clogged drains and dirty, slippery floors strewn with cattle entrails - the shabby picture of the lone public slaughterhouse under the Kochi Corporation has invited much public wrath in the past. But, the condition of the abattoir has not improved a bit as the Corporation remain in slumber. And now, the local residents, whose patience has been tested to the hilt by the authorities, have vowed to launch a stir against the stinking butchery at Kaloor. They have the support of various political outfits as they plan to take on the Corporation authorities for their gross negligence and mismanagement.The BJP Kaloor division took out a protest march to the slaughterhouse demanding its immediate closure. “The adjacent areas are reeling under the rotten smell emanating from the slaughterhouse for past many months. There is no proper mechanism for collection and proper disposal of waste. There is an urgent need to shift the slaughterhouse from its present location near the Kaloor bus stand,” said BJP leader C G Rajagopal. The locals demand that the slaughterhouse, which has been completely neglected by the Corporation authorities, should either be shifted or be renovated. “None of the specified equipment for the slaughter are being used here,” Rajagopal added.The absence of a veterinary doctor responsible for giving the approval stamp for the animals to be slaughtered here has added to the plight of the slaughterhouse. “There has been no veterinary doctor at the slaughterhouse for the past seven months. This may result in unhealthy and plagued animals being slaughtered and sent to the markets for sale. We have witnessed the slaughter of pregnant and dead cows,” alleged Stanley, a member of the Meat and Shop Workers’ Union.The workers at the slaughterhouse alleged that the Corporation has not disposed of the waste at the two bio-gas plants. “The plants have filled with the slaughter waste. It has been days since the Corporation did something about it,” said AITUC Ernakulam district secretary Jirar.When asked about the lack of the Corporation’s initiative to appoint a veterinary doctor for issuing the approval stamp, Corporation health standing committee chairman T K Ashraf said: “The veterinary doctor we had earlier deployed never turned up for duty. At present, there are two doctors on deputation. They will be appointed soon. Other issues will also be solved soon.”
Comments
0 comment