RAWALPINDI, July 8: The newly-inaugurated abattoir at Railway Road in Rawalpindi is on the verge of closure as the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) has allegedly forgot to construct proper drainage system to gush out blood and water from its main hall.

The butchers told Dawn on Sunday that they started slaughtering animals in the new abattoir on Thursday but faced a lot of difficulty as the animal waste and water accumulated in the main hall.

They claimed the contractor then arranged private sanitary workers for the task, which revealed to them, the alarming fact that administration, had forgotten to construct the nullah necessary to drain out the waste and water accumulating during slaughtering.

Moreover, they further alleged that after three days of being opened, the abattoir had run out of water as the tubewell installed for the purpose did not have sufficient capacity to pull out enough water to meet their requirements.

They warned the administration to improve the state of affairs prevailing at the abattoir, failing which, they said, they would not come to the slaughterhouse and would prefer using old method of slaughtering animals in their houses and streets.

They added the abattoir at Sihala was far away from the city, making it impossible for the butchers to go there as transportation charges incurred would directly affect prices of meat.

Jamiatul Quresh Association’s Rawalpindi chapter President Chaudhry Ishaq, who is also the contractor of the abattoir, confirmed to Dawn that drainage system had not been installed in the slaughtering hall.

“The tubewell is unable to meet the needs of the butchers as its machine runs only for six to eight minutes in a go and then stops sucking water, forcing us to get it through tanker service of Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa),” he added.

He said the problems have been brought into the notice of the Rawal Town Administrator Saif Anwar Jappa who has assured us to improve the things soon.

When contacted, Saif Anwar Jappa said the drainage problem had surfaced only after the abattoir got functional and added that building department of City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) while constructing it had installed a pipe of six-inch diameter but, he alleged, the butchers dumped animal waste in great quantities, choking the sewerage line.

“The Rawal Town Municipal Administration will spend Rs2.7 million on constructing a drain to bring sewer to Leh Nullah, refurbishing tubewell and the cattle pen in the building,” he said and hoped the task would be completed in a month.