Cattle markets buzz with buyers, sellers
Sacrificial animals have arrived in huge number at the city cattle markets. The photo was taken from the cattle market beside Sagarika Road at Pahartali on Sunday.Photo: STAR
The cattle markets in the port city have started to buzz with buyers and sellers of sacrificial animals while it is likely to get further momentum with increasing number of buyers today and tomorrow (Friday), the last day before the Eid-ul Azha. There are nine cattle markets of sacrificial animals against seven last year. The markets are at Sagarika, Bibir Hat, Kalpalok Residential area of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), Karnaphuli Bridge area, Moijjar Tek, Soltgola Crossing, Still Mill Bazar, Kathgar and Patenga. Every nook and corner of the markets started filling up with arrival of sacrificial animals from Monday while the intended buyers have started rushing to the markets from Tuesday. The prices of the animals are little bit higher than the previous year and may fluctuate depending on availability of the animals against the demand, observers said. While visiting the city's largest cattle market at Sagarika on Tuesday huge number of bulls and goats were brought from Faridpur, Rajshahi, Kushtia, Mymensingh, Comilla and nearby upazilas of Chittagong district. Cattle trader Bikul Mollah who came from Faridpur with 28 bulls said he has bulls ranging from Tk 25,000 to Tk 90,000 and the price is little higher than the previous year. He said due to an increase in prices of animal food and transportation cost, the price of animals has increased a little this year. “The prices of sacrificial animals fluctuate on the last two days when the buyers rush to the market,” Bikul added. Another trader Mohammad Ismail said they have brought 18 Indian bulls from Rajshahi and most of them range from Tk 65 thousand to Tk 1 lakh. He said prices of the bulls may increase during the last hours as Indian bulls are thin in number in the market due to tight security in the boarders. A separate zone for large-sized bulls has been set up at AK Khan field alongside the Sagarika cattle market this year. Jisad Bull Farm of Kushtia brought huge number of large sized bulls ranging from Tk 1 lakh to Tk 7 lakh at the market. Jasim Uddin of the farm said Chittagong is a good market for large bulls and the intended buyers are choosing and bargaining yet before taking final decision. Jahidul Islam, a buyer, said the prices of the sacrificial animals are a little bit higher but not beyond expectation this year. He said bulls are huge in number this year which help the buyers to choose in a reasonable price. On the other hand, huge goats are available at the cattle markets and most of them are ranging from Tk 5,000 to Tk 15,000. Meanwhile, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) has taken additional security measures in and around the cattle markets to keep law and order situation under control. Assistant Commissioner (AC) Jahangir Alam of Detective Branch said teams of police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have been deployed in and around the markets. “We are not allowing cattle market on the street which may cause congestion in the city,” he said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments