KARACHI, Jan 17: At least 25 seriously injured buffalo out of the 70 which received burn injuries, on Friday, due to a fire caused by substandard wiring in a cattle pen in Landhi, have been sold to butchers.

The fire erupted in the pen, owned by one Shabbir Sethar, situated at the Road No Zero, Landhi Cattle Colony, as a result of which the wooden structure that had a roof made of dry grass and twigs caught fire.

There were about 200 buffalo in the pen, while the owner had gone to purchase more cattle when the incident occurred.

The fire seriously injured 25 buffalo which were sold to butchers for about Rs4000 to 5000, each, while, some 45 buffalo were taken to the Sindh Government Veterinary Hospital, where an emergency had been declared by the director general, Veterinary department, Dr Baz Muhammad Junejo.

Due to the emergency all 35 doctors of the department posted in the city had been called in at the hospital, of whom eight were said to have reached there.

According to Dr Hafeez Sheikh, in-charge of emergency operation, seven of the injured buffalo were in serious conditions.

Meanwhile, one of the pen keepers informed PPI that the cost of a new buffalo ranges from Rs27,000 to Rs35,000, and a sick animal is sold to butchers for about Rs14,000, however, he apprehended that due to emergency situation the 25 burned buffalo were sold at about Rs5000 each.

The seven seriously injured buffalo would be sold to butchers by Friday night, he added.

The officials of the veterinary departments of Sindh and City governments claim that the Cattle Colony, is one of the largest dairy farming place in whole of Asia and it is the main source of milk and meat supply to the city.

Nevertheless, the colony has no organised system for the dairy farming, neither any insurance scheme exists for the cattle keepers, so the pen owners are always reluctant to invest in improving the infrastructure and safety standards.

According to Dr Hafeez fires usually erupt due to short circuit in the colony, especially during the winter months when electric bulbs are used frequently.

A fire about three years back had seriously burnt more than 300 buffalo and damaged about 15 pens in the colony.—PPI