THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A stone’s throw away from Muttathara sewage farm on Muttathara- Valiyathura road stands a beef sales counter that sells meat from an illegal slaughter house from nearby Bangladesh colony. On a busy Sunday morning, people come one by one to the shop which bears no specific name barring a board that says ‘beef and mutton’. When asked, the butcher pretends to cut a fly-infested piece meat giving an illusion that he is slicing fresh meat. He stops the cutting and takes out beef that is already cut and packed in a cover,
The customer says nothing, but pays him Rs 300 for a kg and leaves. As per norms, owners cannot slaughter cattle that have not been certified by a veterinarian. However slaughter takes place in areas like Bangladesh colony, Kunjalumoodu, Vallakadavu etc. Earlier raids by the District Medical Officer and Corporation officials used to happen frequently but this year it has become a rarity.
Inspite of not having a single abattoir in the city, beef delicacies are listed in hotel menus and sell like hot cakes. “No special occasion is complete without a beef delicacy. So we take a chance hoping that it won’t be Tsunami beef (meat from diseased animal),” said Jacob Augustine who resides here.
The lone abattoir in the city at Kunnukuzhy was shut down in 2012 by the Pollution Control Board over lack of setting up a waste management facility. It was then supplying 800 kg meat to the city. However, there is no estimate about how much the city consumes from unknown sources. The new facility expected to come up at Kunnukuzhy next year has created hopes.
