It has been two days since the cattle markets in Dhaka city have been allowed to operate to the full, but sellers yesterday said that trade would take a couple more days to hit the peak.
Eid-ul-Azha, one of the two biggest religious festivals of the Muslims in Bangladesh, will be observed on Friday, September 25.
On that day, and the two following days, Muslims across the country will slaughter cattle – mainly cows, buffaloes, oxes and goats – in the spirit of sacrifice and share the meat with relatives and the poor people of the society.
Usually, people spend several days visiting the various temporary and permanent animal markets in the city, try to get an idea of the price, and make the purchase one or two days before Eid.
This year, apart from the permanent one in Gabtoli, there are 22 makeshift cattle markets in the city.
Over the last two days, this correspondent visited several of those markets, including the one in Gabtoli, and found that buyers are still not coming in numbers. Only the handful that are already visiting the markets are not making the purchase just as yet; they are trying to get an idea of the price.
Several buyers have complained that the price of cattle is higher than the previous years.
Arifuzzaman, who yesterday went to the Kamrangirchar cattle market in the outskirts of Dhaka, yesterday said: “My budget is Tk50,000. But I have not seen any medium-sized cow available at that price. Most traders are demanding large amounts for small cows. This may be because Indian cows are still not available.”
There have been a lot of speculations in recent months about whether price would go up as India has banned the export of cattle to Bangladesh.
For years, hundreds of thousands of Indian cattle are smuggled into Bangladesh before the Eid-ul-Azha as there is no legal way for cattle from the neighbouring country to enter.
People involved with the trade say that Indian cattle is cheaper than local once, hence the spike in smuggling before the festival. They also explain that the water content in Indian beef is higher than local beef and as a result, a local cow is likely to give more flesh than an Indian cow of the same size.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque said on Thursday that there would be no shortage of cattle this Eid as traders are ready to sell four million cows and 6.9 million goats.
Mainul, who has brought 28 cows to the Gabtoli market from Kushtia, said he had sold three cows since coming here.
“I have been coming to this market for more than five years. I think this year the presence of customers is comparatively lower than the last few years,” he said.
However, others have said that the cattle markets would start to liven up as huge consignments of cows have started arriving in the city.
Yesterday, one common scene at most of the markets was that of cattle being unloaded from hundreds of big trucks. Fearing traffic congestion, the authorities have only allowed cattle-laden trucks to enter the capital city on Friday.
Illegal markets
Every year, city corporation authorities fix certain open spaces, located at a distance from busy roads, for setting up cattle markets. People who lease these spaces also need to take security clearance from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
But flouting the rule, ruling Awami League men and their supporters have started setting up unauthorised cattle markets on or near busy roads in many areas in the capital city including Shahjahanpur, Tejgaon, Shukrabad, Kamalapur and Gopibagh.
Talking to local people in some of these areas, the Dhaka Tribune has learned that none of these markets have clearance from city corporations and DMP.