Manthali in need of hygienic slaughterhouse

KATHMANDU: Both consumers and meat entrepreneurs here have been worried over unhygienic slaughterhouse at Manthali, headquarters of Ramechhap district.

There are 20 meat shops at district headquarters.

The shop runners are for having sanitary slaughterhouses, but to no avail.

The Tamakoshi riverbank is a place where those owning meat shops butcher the livestock.

The meat is laced with sand and soil. Once the animal is butchered, there is no facility to cold store the flesh to preserve freshness and quality.

Similarly, as the riverbank is used as abattoir, it is posing growing risk to air service at Manthali airport. Likelihood of birds like crow and vulture hitting plane is on rise, thereby questioning air safety.

The river is also polluted. It is now emanating foul smell.

Meat entrepreneur, Pashupati Shahi, however, complained that they were forced to slay livestock on the riverbank because municipality did not pay heed to construct a slaughterhouse.

“Last year, municipality had allocated Rs 300 thousand for the construction of slaughterhouse, but it was not implemented,” he shared, adding that the local level was asking them in stead to find a proper place for butchering livestock.

Although then Livestock Service Centre and Manthali municipality had set up a slaughterhouse at Hatechaur of Manthali-1 ten years back, it was not operated well.

Meat entrepreneur Hajar Singh Tamang said they were in need of facilities so that hygiene could be maintained while butchering animals and freezing meat. “There is neither water nor a place to dispose waste. So, we are butchering animal on surface itself and selling the meat from the very place,” he shared the plight.

Meanwhile, mayor of Manthali municipality, Lava Shrestha, admitted that there was not hygienic abattoir. Although the local level had set up the abattoir, it was left unused.

He, however, viewed a well-managed slaughterhouse could be made on cost-sharing with the meat entrepreneurs.