‘Tis the season: Animal fodder stalls make their way into DHA

Competition and expenses are steep this year as authorities put vendors in clusters.

KARACHI:

Stalls of animal fodder seem to have taken over the Defence Housing Authority, where no such vendors were seen until a few years ago.

With the increase in the number of stalls popping up near the Punjab Colony signal, along Khayaban-e-Jami and opposite Sultan Masjid on Khayaban-e-Bahria, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has increased the permit fees as well.

“It is Rs6,000 this year for the 10-day stretch from October 1 to October 10,” said a vendor on Khayaban-e-Jami, showing his permit. “But they have clustered multiple stalls in the same place, affecting business with both our competition and our expenses soaring.” He added that Karachi Electric also charged them Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 for their temporary power consumption for this duration.

Most of the vendors wanted to wind up their stalls by the end of Eidul Azha, since the fodder would not sell beyond that time and they were forbidden from selling anything but fodder and mats for the animals.

Khayaban-e-Jami is one of the most popular venues for these seasonal vendors, with nine stalls lined up along the road, hampering traffic flow at the intersection with Sunset Boulevard. The main Punjab Colony road is choked with heavy traffic too, due to these stalls and the illegal cattle market set up there.

DHA spokesperson Major Aurangzeb told The Express Tribune that they had allowed the vendors to establish their stalls at specific points to facilitate the area’s residents during the Eidul Azha season. “The decision was taken after a mutual understanding between us and the residents, and the setup will only be here for a couple of days,” he explained. “Some of the plots belong to DHA, while others have private owners who gave us their consent to use them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2014.