KARACHI: Transformed into a muddy mess in the aftermath of the recent downpour, the city’s largest cattle market off the Superhighway is experiencing a decline in businesses these days, a visit to the facility showed on Wednesday.
Spread over 1,000 acres, the yearly market for sacrificial animals is organised by the Malir Cantonment Board.
More than 100,000 animals have so far arrived in the market where prices of animals are said to be high this year owing to an increase in taxes (imposed by the market administration), apart from other factors.
These animals, including a large number of camels, are brought mainly from the interior of Sindh and Punjab.
Prices of animals up; traders blame rise in taxes
The traders Dawn spoke to complained of an acute water shortage in the market and lack of support from the administration in handling the post-rain conditions.
“The water being provided to us for free is not sufficient at all for big animals while there are long queues at spots dedicated for selling water,” Hussain, a trader from Badin said, adding that most traders were working on a self-help basis and trying to remove rainwater from the space allotted to them.
Mohammad Farid, an animal trader from Bahawalpur, seemed equally worried. Venting his frustration, he said: “Nobody from the administration has even bothered to ask how we and our animals are surviving here. All our tents had fallen after the rain, which we ourselves have erected again.”