THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A year after the city corporation-run slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy was shut down, the food safety department has issued closure notices to the district's remaining six legal abattoirs.
Still, meat-with questionable quality-will be available, thanks to illegal slaughterhouses. The six slaughterhouses-run directly or indirectly by municipalities of panchayats-were ordered closed on Wednesday after raids by the food safety officials.
The raids were based on a Supreme Court directive to file quarterly reports on steps taken to check illegal slaughtering by state-level monitoring committees.
Closure notices were served to slaughterhouses run by Attingal, Nedumangad, Neyyatinkara and Varkala municipalities. Abattoirs auctioned to private parties by Pazhayakunnumel and Kallara grama panchayats, too, received similar notices. "None of these slaughterhouses had mandatory food safety licences and functioned in extremely unhygienic conditions," said food safety assistant commissioner D Sivakumar.
According to Part IV of Schedule II of Food Safety and Standards Regulation, more than 25 preliminary conditions should be met to run a slaughterhouse. The raids excluded illegal slaughterhouses, which explain the availability of meat. In the capital city alone, more than 200 stalls have been selling beef and mutton.
The latest was the second round of raids in two months on abattoirs which were now slapped with closure notices. During fresh raids, food safety officials found the slaughterhouses had not taken the earlier notices seriously.
Going ahead, the department would slap prosecution charges on erring slaughterhouses.
Exactly a year ago-on February 7, 2013-the pollution control board had ordered the closure of the slaughterhouse at Kunnukuzhy, citing lack of waste management facilities.
Central Govt assistance for Modernising Meat shops and Plants can be used by the industry to change over the standards of new regulations.
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