CHITRAL: A resident of Sheikhupura in Punjab province has seized the attention of the local people as he has brought with him four milch camels and their calves to the district.

The residents of the district swarm him wherever he goes to sell the fresh milk of camel. The presence of camels in the city for the last four days has become the talk of the town as the animal is almost new to the locals. Most of the locals have seen a camel for the first time.

Sold at Rs200 per litre, the camel milk is being discussed as panacea for a number of diseases including diabetes, gas trouble, indigestion, muscular pain and hepatitis.

Imran, the owner of the camel, told Dawn that he travelled from his hometown Sheikhupura to Chitral on feet which took 25 days. He said that he couldn’t afford the fare of truck while his choice of Chitral was due to its pleasant weather as he had visited it many years ago as a tourist.

The animal is new to most of the locals

He said that he received an encouraging response from the people in Chitral town during the four days as he sold almost the milk as per capacity of each camel, which was 30 litres per day.

“Most of the people purchase the milk as medicine for different ailments. They get it from us on daily basis as the fresh milk is said to have its highest degree of efficacy and the number of our clients is one increase,” said Imran.

He said that he visited different localities of the town in the morning where people waited for him. “We stay over at the place where it is sunset. The people are hospitable enough to give us space and meal,” he added.

The camel owner said that he was planning to visit Garam Chashma, Kalash valleys and some other parts of the district and spend the rest of the summer season there.

The villagers from the nearby areas and even Upper Chitral come to show their children the camel and buy its milk.

Muzafar Ali from Oveer village of Upper Chitral was seen taking a selfie with the camel.

He had come on the insistence of his two children to show them the camel which they had seen only in pictures or in television.

Bashir Hussain Azad of Zargarandeh village said that his children had developed a sharp taste for the milk due to which he bought two litres of it on daily basis.

CAMPS: Free mammography of about 523 women above the age of 40 years was carried out in both the districts of Lower and Upper Chitral at free medical camps held at four different places.

Arranged by the Lahore-based Cancer Care Hospital, the camps were held in district headquarters hospital Chitral and tehsil headquarters hospitals Booni, Drosh and Garam Chashma for more than two weeks.

The final day of the free screening camp was exclusively for the Kalash women in Drosh.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2021