Modern abattoir to open in Thiruvananthapuram on August 30

The Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation’s modern slaughterhouse is set for opening, after the completion of long-delayed infrastructural works. Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh will inaugurate the abattoir at a function to be held on April 30, with Mayor Arya Rajendran presiding over.

According to Corporation officials, the plant, once functional, will become the biggest such government-run abattoir in the State. The functioning of the plant will be after ensuring all the Food Safety standards and by using all the modern technology to avoid human contact with the meat. A lab will also be set up in which veterinarians will carry out quality checks both before and after slaughtering. The meat after slaughtering will be handed over to buyers only after certification. 

The plant, built at a cost of ₹15 crore, can handle 75 larger animals and 50 small animals per day. It will also have a capacity to hold 75 livestock. The solid waste will be treated at site using a biogas plant. The rendering plant will be used to process the non-edible soft tissues and bones. The byproduct from the effluent treatment plant will be supplied to industries involved in the manufacture of animal food. Remaining fine solids and wash water from the slaughterhouse will go to an effluent treatment plant. The plant is equipped with an automatic animal moving slaughter system and cold storage facilities.

The Corporation will stop all illegal slaughter in the corporation area from the date of starting of the modern slaughterhouse. No meat without a seal of the corporation will be allowed to be sold in the meat stalls within the city. The civic body will register all the meat stall owners/butchers in the corporation and will provide approval for bringing animals to the slaughterhouse for custom slaughter.

The Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company Limited (KEL) is the implementing agency for the project. The project to set up a modern slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy has now become a long-running story stretching for eleven years, during which many proposals were dropped even before implementation began. The Kunnukuzhy slaughterhouse was closed in February 2013 as it failed to manage the waste generated in a scientific way in the absence of a centralised waste treatment plant.