By Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik
Islamabad, the world’s second most beautiful capital, has long faced serious public health risks due to the absence of a formal slaughterhouse. Despite repeated announcements and promises over many years, the capital still lacks a modern slaughterhouse, forcing meat traders to slaughter animals in homes, streets, or open areas. This informal practice not only violates basic hygiene standards but also increases the risk of contaminated meat entering the market, endangering public health.
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Unsafe meat is linked to dangerous diseases such as E. coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis E, and other bacterial infections, which can be especially lethal for children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Local public health data indicate rising cases of foodborne illnesses due to uncertified meat, placing additional burdens on healthcare facilities.
The absence of an organized facility directly affects over 70 million people in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, endangering public health, increasing the risk of epidemics, and compromising food safety standards. Clearly, Islamabad, the world’s second most beautiful capital, lacks a basic necessity of modern urban life—a slaughterhouse that ensures safe and hygienic meat.
The formal slaughterhouse concept has existed in Islamabad for over a decade. Despite multiple PC-I approvals, land allocations, and funding releases, progress has repeatedly stalled. By August 2022, authorities themselves acknowledged that the project was “significantly delayed.” Initial costs were estimated at 500 million PKR, but after PC-I revisions, the 2022 estimate rose to nearly 1.9 billion PKR, and with inflation and outdated approvals, the current projected cost exceeds 3 billion PKR. Multiple transfers of responsibility—from CDA to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and back—further complicated matters. The project location was changed three times, and yet CDA did not commence construction, even after land allocation and funding in 2021.
A major reason for these repeated delays is the bureaucratic attitude dominating project implementation. Officials focus more on paperwork, internal approvals, and documentation than on delivering tangible results. Responsibilities are constantly shifted among departments, PC-I documents are repeatedly revised, and site locations changed—creating a culture of indecision and slow progress. Meetings, committees, and reports replace actual construction, while millions of people continue to face urgent public health needs.
Officials are more interested in completing checklists than protecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi residents from the dangers of unsafe and uncertified meat—an unmistakable reflection of administrative negligence. This attitude has not only compromised public health but also negatively impacted waste management and environmental systems in the city.
Critics, including meat traders, openly accuse CDA of a lack of seriousness in moving the project forward. Residents complain that, due to the absence of an organized slaughterhouse, they are forced to buy meat of questionable quality. While feasibility studies and master plans exist on paper, CDA continues holding meetings, forming committees, and revising documents rather than taking decisive action. For years, the project has been stuck in bureaucratic queues, resulting in cost escalation and further delays. Stakeholder coordination is repeatedly cited as a hurdle, even though this should be standard procedure for any urban project.
The federal government, particularly the Ministry of Planning and Development, responsible for PC-I approvals and timely implementation, has also failed to prioritize Islamabad’s slaughterhouse. Unlike high-profile infrastructure projects like highways, metro lines, or parks, this critical public health project has not received adequate attention.
Clearly, the federal government and CDA are competing to make Islamabad more beautiful and modern, yet during this race, crucial public health projects like the slaughterhouse, essential for providing safe meat to millions of residents, are completely neglected. This bureaucratic and political tug-of-war is not only hazardous for public health but puts millions of citizens’ fundamental needs—namely access to safe meat—at severe risk.
The lack of political ownership in the cabinet and delays in timely approvals and oversight by the Ministry of Planning and Development have created a system where responsibility is repeatedly shifted but accountability is absent. Even judicial interventions, including directives from the Islamabad High Court criticizing CDA and ordering its dissolution, have failed to prompt federal action. The bureaucratic attitude, focusing on procedures rather than results, has exposed over 70 million residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to the dangers of unsafe meat. This is not mere negligence; it reflects a culture of institutional indifference.
The cumulative consequences include rising project costs, the threat of uncertified and unsafe meat entering the market, lost economic benefits from organized meat trade, proper waste management, potential meat exports, and the loss of thousands of jobs linked to a regulated slaughterhouse and meat industry. This prolonged stagnation—marked by repeated site changes, bureaucratic drift, and the Ministry of Planning and Development’s negligence—stands in stark contrast to the government’s emphasis on beautification projects, raising serious questions about CDA and federal commitment to public health, food safety, and citizen welfare.
Given the scale of the public health threat, the open neglect by CDA and the Ministry of Planning and Development, and the impact on over 70 million citizens, it is imperative that the honorable Supreme Court take suo moto action. The Court must intervene immediately, end decades of bureaucratic inertia and irresponsibility, ensure the construction of a modern slaughterhouse, and hold officials accountable.
This project is not just a building—it represents safe meat, disease prevention, and food security for millions of residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The current delay exposes citizens to continuous risks of unsafe meat, leading to rising cases of E. coli, Salmonella, and other bacterial infections, with children, the elderly, and vulnerable populations being most affected. While the government is active in beautification projects, it neglects the basic human need for public health protection and safe meat.
This project is also critically aligned with the globally recognized WHO One Health principles, which emphasize the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and environmental health. A modern and organized slaughterhouse will not only ensure the supply of safe meat but also prevent zoonotic disease transmission, mitigate health risks from animals to humans, and support environmentally responsible waste management.
It is clear that CDA and the federal government are directing resources and attention toward urban aesthetics and facilities, while essential public health projects are completely ignored. This approach has eroded public trust and created the impression that urban beauty is prioritized over human life and health.
Immediate Supreme Court oversight, accountability of CDA and the federal government, and prioritization of the project according to public health standards and One Health principles, is essential. This is no longer merely a matter of timely project completion—it is about protecting millions of citizens’ lives, reducing disease risks, and safeguarding fundamental health rights in Pakistan. Governments must reassess priorities, ensuring that alongside urban beautification, public health, safe meat, and One Health global standards are given the highest priority.
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