GUJRAT: The Gujrat Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has decided to shift the slaughterhouse along Shah Jahangir Road to a recently selected piece of land along the Gujrat-Jalalpur Jattan bypass road.

Residents of areas surrounding the slaughterhouse had been demanding for long shifting of the centre outside the city’s populated areas.

After months of efforts, officials concerned of the TMA have chosen seven kanals along the Jalalpur Jattan bypass road passing through Gujrat. The matter was referred to the land revenue department to make arrangements for acquisition of the selected piece of land.

Official sources told Dawn the exact location of the proposed site would be kept under wraps until issuance of a notification for acquisition of the land to avoid opposition by locals who owned the land.

However, they added, the Gujrat district government had directed the land revenue department to assess price of the land as per market rates so that any expected opposition could be managed easily.

The slaughterhouse had been in a shambles since long due to lack of proper infrastructure as well as arrangements of slaughtering animals.

Rs13 million had been allocated in the development budget of the Gujrat TMA in the current fiscal year to set up a modern slaughterhouse; design of the facility was also being prepared by the engineering branch of TMA.

The TMA had been planning to establish a modern slaughterhouse in the city for over five years. Earlier, a site located along Gujrat-Sargodha road near Sheikh Sukha village had been selected for the purpose but due to stiff resistance from locals and political pressure, the plan could not materialise.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2015

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