Authorities are planning to phase out abattoirs in Kathmandu in favour of importing packaged meat from outside the Valley as there are no more places to dump slaughterhouse wastes.

“The plan is to bring meat instead of bringing live animals which comes with added burden of managing their wastes,” said chief of Public Health Division at Kathmandu Metropolitan City Hari Kumar Shrestha.

Although the Valley is becoming self-sufficient in chicken, still 70 percent of all goats and 60 percent of buffaloes are imported from outside. Around 500 buffaloes; 1,500 goats; 7,000 chicken; 150 pigs and 7,000 kg fish enter Kathmandu on a daily basis, according to KMC. As there are not enough waste disposal sites in the Valley, slaughterhouse waste has been creating a health hazard.

In coordination with Ministry of Livestock Development, the KMC recently inspected 31 butcher shops in Kathmandu, 35 in Bhaktapur and 36 in Lalitpur. Out of the 102 meat shops, only seven were found selling hygienic meat while the rest were found violating the basic health standards. In total, there are around 2,500 meat shops and around 1,000 fish shops in the Valley, and as the Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act of 1999 remains largely unimplemented, animals are often being slaughtered in dirty areas.

Joint secretary at MoLD Shyam Prasad Poudel said that most of the meat selling outlets in Kathmandu do not follow basic hygiene and

openly kill animals on roadsides. “Diseases like tuberculosis spread due to such practices.”

The KMC wants replace abattoirs in the Valley by removing joints that slaughter buffaloes first.

“We plan to start bringing packaged buff meat within this fiscal year and then go after other types of meat,” Shrestha said. “This can ensure that Valley residents get quality meat products and also get rid of pollution.”

Live animals are imported into the Valley mostly from Hetauda, Sunsari, Birgunj, Nepalgunj, Bara, Dhading, Chitwan, Bardiya, Dhangadhi, Malangwa and Nuwakot.

 Shrestha, however, said that existing slaughterhouses and butcher shops in the Valley need not worry as they will not be forced to close down their businesses.