KARACHI: No govt effort to regulate rising cattle prices
By Faiza Ilyas
KARACHI, Dec 19: The prices of sacrificial animals increase every year, without provoking any strong public concern that can force the government to set up a mechanism to regulate animal prices, at least on the holy occasion of Eidul Azha.
This situation, along with food inflation, has made the ritual of animal sacrifice a costly business, forcing many people to either compromise on the type of animal they choose, or opt for sharing the sacrifice, a convenience that religion has allowed. In other cases, people even abandon the practice out of compulsion.
If one visits the various cattle markets in the city – both the regular ones that operate throughout the year as well as those that spring up on Eid, with or without government permission – one notices that the purchaser is completely at the mercy of traders, and there is no government intervention whatsoever. On the other hand, cattle traders are equally unhappy over the annual price hike and argue that the situation is not conducive for their business either.
“Food inflation has reduced the purchasing power of the common man. People now prefer sharing a sacrificial animal, which is a loss to the traders, while there is no guarantee of the market trend itself. Every trader tries to sell the maximum number of the Eid stock, even if he has to suffer some losses because he knows the next year his animal won’t fetch a better price, since people prefer younger animals,” said Lateef Qureishi, member of the Livestock Traders’ Welfare Association, while adding that the prices of animals were up almost 30 per cent this time as compared to last year.
Among the bigger cattle markets of the metropolis that include the one in Landhi, Malir and the army-manned one off the Super Highway, the conditions at the Malir market, popularly known as Bakra Piri and considered to be the oldest regular market, are worse in terms of management and law and order. In a survey conducted by Dawn, traders raised a number of issues, particularly that of the lack of security, which, they claimed, had greatly harmed their business.
Security issues
“There is no protection from criminals and we are doing business at our own risk. Since Eidul Fitr, six cattle traders have been killed by dacoits in different incidents while they were taking cash to different destinations after selling the animals. There is a general perception that such robberies are carried out in connivance with the police,” said trader Ashiq Hussain, who had come from Khairpur to sell 60 animals in Malir.
It was the security issue, he said, which forced traders to pay an exorbitantly high entry fee and charges for other services at the cattle market off the Super Highway, though selling animals at a better location had its own advantages, too.
About the hike in animal prices, traders in Malir contended that they were forced to increase the rates of animals because of the unabated rise in the prices of animal feed, along with the various taxes being imposed every year.
“Recently, the town administration has imposed an ‘Eid special tax’; that is Rs250 and Rs75 for each big and small animal respectively, notwithstanding the fact that Malir’s market is not set up specifically on Eid and runs throughout the year. In return, the government provides us nothing in services, which can be gauged from the filthy conditions prevalent in this market as there is no system of waste disposal. Besides, traders have to bear all the expenses that are incurred during their stay in the city. Along with the cost of transport, labour, electricity, water, and the shamiana, traders pay Rs5,000 as rent for a small shed. Obviously, all these costs are rising every year, too”, several traders said.
Regarding the current market trend, they said there wasn’t enough buying and traders had suffered losses while hoping that the market would come out of this dull period.
In terms of management, traders at Landhi’s Cattle Colony appeared to be quite satisfied with the town administration and claimed that they had been provided with water, electricity and a shed free of charge. “Apart from a nominal entry fee, there is no tax. Because of these reasons, animals are comparatively cheaper here and it’s also serving as a wholesale market for those who want to sell animals in the interior areas of the city”, some traders told Dawn.
Smuggling of animals
They also pointed out that the smuggling of animals to neighbouring countries was one of the major factors which had a direct impact on animal prices. “Some years ago, animals used to be brought to Karachi from Balochistan for sale. Now, animals from the interior of Sindh are being taken to Quetta, from where they make their way to Iran and Afghanistan”, said a trader.
Regarding high rates at the Super Highway’s cattle market and the recently imposed Eid tax in Malir, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that the city government had no role to play in fixing charges at the army-manned Super Highway market, while in the case of the Malir market, he flatly refused to admit that the CDGK had imposed any such taxes. When reminded that the case was in court, he responded by saying that he had no knowledge of the issue.
