Long demand for modern abattoir, a reality soon

Facility to slaughter 200 large and 15,00 small animals

After several years of wait and a result of continuous battle from meat vendors, the city will soon have a state of art the modern abattoir at Kesare.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has approved the project at the cost of Rs 39.99 crore.

With the set up of modern a slaughter house, Mysore will be the first in Karnataka to have such facility close proximity to the city.

The existing abattoir in Kesare which was built by the then erstwhile Maharajas of Mysore is not able to cater to the needs of the increasing demand of meat consumption in the city. The facility is also in an unhygienic condition. According to Mysore City Corporation which did a survey, revealed that it has 70 per cent non-vegetarian population, including 20 per cent beef consumption population. The heritage city has a population of 9,20,550 with an area of 128.42 sqkm.

The modern abattoir will come up at Kesare at a sprawling area of 14.4 acres, four km away from  the city. As many as 200 large animals (buffalo and cows) and 15,00 small animals can be slaughtered here per day. The abattoir has a capacity to render around 10.5 metric tons and chilling capacity of 10 metric tonnes.

It will also include lairage and resting area for large animals, slaughter line for large and small animals, rendering plant, chilling area, ETP, vacuum packaging machine, and a rest room.The funding for the project will be shared by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (37.50 per cent); MCC(12.53 per cent), State government (12.53 per cent) and Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) (37.39 per cent).

Dr Lingaraju, veterinarian, MCC said that if goes all well, Mysore will add another to feather to its cap by equipping itself with the first modern slaughter house. He said that abattoirs elsewhere in the State were located far away from the cities, inconveniencing the butchers. A nominal fee considered as service charge will be collected from butchers.

When asked how MCC will act on unauthorised slaughtering, he said that once the abattoir is set up, all the butchering activities in the city will be transfered to one place. “The MCC will act tough against offenders,” he said. He also added that there is a scarcity of veterinarians in MCC.

The demand for modern abattoir was put forth in the year 1988, but when MCC did not heed to the same, the Mysore City Beef Butchers Association had filed a case in the High Court against the corporation.

A decade later, in 1998, the Court ordered the construction of a slaughter house for big animals within a year. A tender was floated to set up a slaughter house for big animals, adjacent to the existing slaughter house in Kesare. However strong resistance from residents in the neighbourhood, the project was stalled.

Following this, the Association, filed a contempt of court, which in the year 2000 ordered for the construction of the facility near Varuna channel in Kesare village. The facility started functioning, in the year 2001, but due to resistance from people again, it was shut down.

The Pollution Control Board too denied post-facto permission for the facility to continue in the same place.

Now after 13 years, the demand for a modern abattoir might become a reality.