High prices keep buyers at bay

Rawalpindi : The shoppers visiting cattle markets are returning without purchasing as the prices of sacrificial animals are skyrocketing.

With only one week left for Eidul Azha, fewer buyers were seen at the cattle markets set up by the Rawalpindi administration at eleven points in the district.

Residents, who arrived here at Bhatta Chowk sale point along with their children, said on Sunday that animal sellers were demanding excessive prices beyond their purchasing limit.

Adil Mir, a buyer at the market, said last year he purchased a small goat of 25 kilograms for Rs45,000, but now the same animal was being demanded at up to Rs90,000, which showed the rate of sacrificial animals had gone up by 100 per cent.

Waqas Younas, another buyer at Adiala Road market, said the rates of goats, sheep, buffalos, and cows were inflated, forcing the people to go home empty-handed.

He said buffalos and cows of 160 kilograms, which were available at not more than Rs160,000 last year, were demanded up to Rs300,000 this year.

He called upon the district administration to take steps to save the public from fleecing of sellers.

When contacted, President Jamiat Ul Quresh Pakistan Khursheed Ahmed Qureshi said that the primary cause of the increase in the prices of animals was the demand and supply gap.

He said that animal production had witnessed a steep decline during previous years as the departments concerned had failed to adopt a comprehensive policy to boost the production of halal meat, resulting in mutton price at Rs1,700 per kg and beef price per kg at Rs1,000 in the market.

Giving details about online shopping for sacrificial animals, Qureshi, a member of the Board of Directors of Livestock and Dairy Development Directorate, said that online shopping for sacrificial had reached up to 70 per cent due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding the people preferred online platforms.

He said the use of online platforms to purchase sacrificial animals could also be another reason for small crowds at the cattle markets, adding that online companies were offering a goat of 14 kg at Rs41,000 and 14 kilograms of share in cows or buffaloes at Rs20,000.

Gul Khan, a calf seller from Rajanpur, said the rise in transportation charges, cost of animal breeding, and bribes collected by the police officials of various districts led to increased animal prices.

Meanwhile, Director Livestock Dr. Sarfraz Chatta told this agency that livestock teams were administering the vaccination to the animals against the LSV and Congo virus while suspected animals were also being separated at the cattle markets.

He said that animals found having positive symptoms of Congo or LSV would not be allowed to enter markets at any cost.

The Director informed that LSD had already established seven check posts on the entry points of the district at the Toll plaza, Tarnol, Toll plaza, Mandra, Toll Plaza, Taxila, Chakri, Motorway Interchange, Barian and Kashmir check-posts, Murree, while 14 posts had also set up at the Attock, Jehlum and Chakwal district to avoid the entry of the affected animals in Rawalpindi.

Rawalpindi administration had established cattle markets of sacrificial animals at Bhatta Chowk near Koh-e-Noor Mills Rawalpindi Cantonment, Punjab Cooperative Housing Society Adiala Road on Adiala Road, Chakri Road near Al-Haram City.

Gujar Khan cattle market at Gulyana Road, Mangal Chowk near Kalar by-pass, Tanki road near Chan Shah Jalyar in Kahuta, Chovera Bazaar near Rescue-1122, Kotli Sattian, HIT near Sunday Bazaar timber market road Taxila, Sharif Hospital Stop on GT Road Wah Cantonment, Tehsil Road, Lower Bazaar Murree, and Jhika Gali Murree.