If things go as planned, the Kathmandu valley may soon close all the abattoirs, most of which have been found to have failed to maintain quality and hygiene, and import meat from outside the valley.

A week ago, a government inspection team lead by then Minister for Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Man Pun had found around a dozen slaughterhouses selling contaminated buffalo meat. The team had even sealed an abattoir in Satungal.

The Kathmandu valley has over 300 abattoirs where buffaloes are slaughtered. None of them were found to be maintaining basic standard.  

“We need vehicles with refrigeration system to transport processed met to Kathmandu,” said Hari Kumar Shrestha, chief of Public Health Division at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

“The Ministry of Livestock Development has agreed to provide us the vehicles. We have also asked Rs 17 million from government to buy vehicles. Once we get the budget, we will start working on this project.”

Officials say meat could be imported from slaughterhouses in Banke, Bardiya, Bara, Parsa, Dhangadi, Malangawa, Sunsari, Hetauda and Nuwakot. The meat imported from outside the valley will be sold by various cold stores and meat shops in the valley, according to officials.

Those who are selling meat and operating slaughterhouses will be on priority to let them import meat from outside the valley.

At present, more than 700 buffaloes enter the Kathmandu valley on a daily basis.

The way they are transported, cramped into trucks, has often been a cause for concern, with animal rights activists for long raining the issue of ill-treatment to the animals.

Shrestha said that existing slaughterhouses and meat shops in the valley need not worry as they will not be forced to close down their businesses.

Besides buffaloes, the Kathmandu valley gets 1,500 goats, 7,000 chickens; 150 pigs and 7,000 kg fish on a daily basis.