Bringing home the meat: Shopping for Eidul Azha a sacrifice in itself

Locals complain about prices while traders say their livestock find no shade or water

PESHAWAR:

As enthusiastic as buyers might be to bring home fat cows or as eager as dealers would be to rake in money, they first have to contend with separate sets of issues in the city’s cattle markets.

Although sacrificial animals are cheaper in Peshawar in comparison with other cities, beef handi or lamb chops for Eidul Azha will still be prohibitively expensive. The most expensive bull—the king of the market—is for approximately Rs400,000 while the average price for other sacrificial animals is Rs80,000.

The cattle in the city is mostly brought in from Punjab by local and Punjab-based traders. They say they come to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa because the actual market is better. But even some of them concur the rates are high.

“We come to Peshawar every year but this time the market rates are a bit too high,” cattle dealer Muhammad Farooq told The Express Tribune on Saturday at the market or mandi at Ring Road. Farooq has come from Toansa, Punjab with 56 animals. He is one of 27 traders.

“The cost of transportation and hotel facilities has increased the prices of these animals.” Farooq said they have to pay the police too at different check posts and that comes to Rs10,000 per day.



Sweating it out

If these high prices cause the buyers’ blood pressure to skyrocket, the dealers too have their own bunch of issues to tackle, just like the Rs10,000 a day bakhsheesh.

There are two main mandis for cattle in the city: Kala Mandi which also known as Arbab Mandi and Cattle Mandi, situated on Ring Road. The latter is open till 2am but without electricity; dealers struggle to make sales.

Then there is the shortage of water; for both the dealers and their livestock. Add that to the lack of shelter from the scorching sun, and everyone wilts before the day ends.

“We are compelled to take water for drinking from the same pond our animals use,” said Gul Badshah, a resident of Wahid Garhi, Peshawar. He pointed to one of his cattle; affected by the heat, dirt and lack of water the animal could not even stand.



“We can provide cover for the cattle but not before we pay Rs4,000 for a tent.”

When contacted, the supervisor of the market Haji Asghar said, “There is no electricity for hours, how can I ensure such facilities?” He added he brings 10 containers of water daily to the market.

Nevertheless, business continues at breakneck pace, despite these issues. After all, both dealers and buyers have no other option.

Even at the latest, “buyers will have to approach the mandi when a day or two before Eid,” said Mosam Khan, a livestock trader at Ring Road. He was standing with his bull, all decked up, and both were waiting for the right person to come by, someone who could pay Rs350,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2015.