05 February 2004	Thursday	13 Zilhaj 1424

HYDERABAD, Feb 4: Eidul Azha was celebrated with religious fervour here on Monday. Two main congregations were held at old Eidgah Saddar and Rani Bagh Eidgah at 8:45 and 9:30 am respectively.

The cleanliness arrangements in the city, Latifabad and Qasimabad by the municipal administrations (TMA) remained by and large better. However, some complaints regarding non-availability of sanitary staff to dispose off sacrificed animal waste were received from City and Latifabad taluka.

In the runup to Eidul Azha a marked increase was noted in the prices of sacrificial animals as people bought sacrificial animals at double the normal prices, inquiries by Dawn showed.

The soaring price hike made some people purchase female goats which are priced lower. Also, animals were being sold without any check by any government agency.

Inquiries showed that a healthy cow was sold for between Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 which otherwise before Eid could be obtained for Rs15,000 to Rs20000. The same is the case with goats which were sold at Rs7,500 to Rs8000 notwithstanding the fact that it could be purchased for Rs6,000 to Rs6,500 last year.

Enquiries revealed that most of the animals from Sindh were destined for Karachi which has a very big market for sacrificial animals and where sellers could command a higher price.