The standards of the slaughterhouses under both the city
corporations in Dhaka are far from satisfactory.
Availing lax enforcement of the rules, the butchers in most cases avoid the designated slaughter houses and prefer slaughtering cattle elsewhere, thus polluting the environment.
Both the Dhaka South City Corporation and the Dhaka North City Corporation has two slaughterhouses each, which is too few to meet the requirement.
About 3,000 cattle are slaughtered in the city every day, for which there are only four traditional slaughterhouses.
Two large slaughterhouses are located in Kaptanbazar and Hazaribagh and two small ones in Mohammadpur and Mirpur Section-11.
At present, there is no veterinary surgeon at the city corporations.
According to rules, there should be facilities for medical tests before butchering any animal at the slaughterhouses which will also issue a standardisation certificate for the meat. All these cannot be done without a veterinary surgeon.
The DNCC has already sent a letter to local government ministry demanding appointment of veterinary surgeon but there is no response, said an official.
Moreover, the only veterinary surgeon the DSCC has has recently been transferred, he added.
During a visit to the slaughterhouse at Mohammadpur Krishi Market, the place where cattle are slaughtered was found too narrow. Only 20 to 30 animals are slaughtered on Saturday to Thursday whereas about 50 to 60 are slaughtered on Friday.
The animals are not vaccinated as there is no doctor appointed by the city corporation. Though there is an inspector to investigate the matter, the officials seem to have no concern for the matter.
Moreover, the existing practice of slaughtering and processing animals severely infect meat with germs and other hazardous elements.
This conventional slaughterhouse creates serious environmental pollution as there is no proper water drainage system and wastes from the butchered cattle are not properly cleaned.
DNCC chief health officer Md Afzalur Rahman told New Age that all the irregularities at the slaughterhouses were due mainly to the absence of the veterinary surgeon.
‘The DNCC organogram is yet to be finalised, so we cannot appoint any veterinary surgeon,’ he added.
Afzalur Rahman said, ‘We are trying to build at least eight semi-modern small slaughterhouses in the city to avoid environmental pollution and check irregularities but the decision is yet to be made by the authorities concerned.’
Bangladesh Meet Merchant Association acting president Md Golam Mourtaza said there should be at least 40 slaughterhouses in the city whereas it has only four.
He said that the butchers avoid slaughtering cattle at slaughterhouse to save time and money but in this way they pollute the environment.
The biggest slaughterhouse is located at Hazaribagh where around 90 cows are slaughtered every day and sometimes, buffalos are also slaughtered, said inspector of the slaughterhouse.
The time of slaughtering cattle is from 2:00am to 10:00am, he added.
The officials have alleged that there is no doctor at the slaughterhouse for the last three months.
They also informed that around 19 workers were working at the Hazaribagh slaughterhouse but they needed more.
Seeking anonymity, A DSCC official said, ‘We are trying to build modern slaughterhouses in the city, which would be environment-friendly but it is still at the initial stage.’
He said that the city corporations should set up at least one slaughterhouse in every zone to stop illegal butchering of animals elsewhere and to keep the environment clean.
-With New Age input
