KHAR: The prices of sacrificial animals have witnessed a significant decrease in Bajaur Agency following the local administration’s ban on movement of livestock out of the tribal agency.

It was observed on Monday that prices of different sacrificial animals had decreased compared to the previous year at the cattle markets in the agency.

The people and cattle dealers told Dawn that rates of almost all sacrificial animals, especially cow, bull and buffalo, had come down significantly compared to last year. They said ban on transportation of animals to Afghanistan and other areas by the political administration was the reason behind price decrease.

We have brought a large number of sacrificial animals to the cattle markets here but have yet to witness buying by people, Akhtar Khan, a dealer at Sadiq Abad cattle market, said.

It was seen that though there was hustle and bustle in the cattle markets, a very small people actually bought the sacrificial animals.

Hazrat Khan, a resident of Mamond, said he bought a cow for Rs25,000, adding the animal of the same weight was sold at Rs32,000 last year.

The people said up to Rs10,000 decrease had been witnessed in the price of every animal in the cattle markets.

“We are worried about the situation because we did not see the situation like this in the past and we would be affected financially if the situation is not improved,” Ajdar Khan, another livestock dealer in Khar, lamented.

However, the dealers expressed hope that their business would get momentum and the prices of cattle would increase two or three days before Eidul Azha.

Meanwhile, the local administration said the decrease in prices of sacrificial animals was because of the ban on transportation of cattle to Afghanistan and other areas.

An official told Dawn the ban was imposed a few days ago to control prices of sacrificial animals in the agency.

AGREEMENT: The Bajaur political administration and Khar Islahi Jirga have agreed to work together for settling long-running local disputes.

The agreement came at a ceremony where a dispute between two groups was settled by Khar Islahi Jirga here the other day.

The ceremony was attended by tribal elders, religious leaders and members of the rival groups.

The enmity between Gulam Khaliq and Azizur Rahman groups over land dispute had been running since 2006, which claimed a number of lives from both the sides.

Elders of both the groups forgave each other and took oath that they would live like brothers in future.

Expressing regrets over loss of precious lives, heads of the groups promised to forget all bitterness of the past and forge friendly relations with each other.

Haji Said Ahmed Jan, chairman of Khar Islahi Jirga, on the occasion said the jirga members held a number of meetings with leaders of both the groups to resolve the dispute.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2016