KARACHI: High charges irk cattle traders
The traders voiced their concern in a market survey conducted by Dawn, saying that the army-manned market of sacrificial animals had been made unaffordable for the small cattle farmers as the administration was charging exorbitantly for different services. Though satisfied with security arrangements, they said that despite paying huge sums of money on account of entry and land allotment for setting up makeshift stalls they were being provided with peanuts in return.
“This is the biggest animal market of the country from which the army earns billions of rupees. But, what are they giving us in return? Dust and mess have made us sick while there is no water to drink. This is my first and last visit to the mandi,” said Shah Mehmood, who had come from Sukkur to set up a food stall at the market.
The trader said that he had paid Rs10,000 for a small cabin. Water was being sold there, he said, adding that the administration was charging Rs25 for a bath. “One of my friends had diarrhoea. He had to pay Rs80 on a single day. Traders themselves bear the cost for setting up of a small reservoir and lined it with plastic, but still there were no water supplies,” he said, complaining that the poor quality food and beverages were being sold at very high prices and even a vendor was being asked to pay Rs5,000 for selling his goods there.
Other stall-holders shared his grievances and maintained that they had come all the way from far flung areas of Punjab and Sindh and deserved better treatment. One of them, Ahmed Saeed, who had come from Bahawalnagar along with his friends and had been a regular visitor to the cattle market for many years, said the prices of different items had risen manifold. For instance, he said, last year a tube-light was available here on rent for Rs30, now they charged Rs80 for it. He said it was not only a five-rupee raise in toilet charges that was disturbing but the huge difference in tent charges also affected the prices of animals. He said a tent with its three sides covered was being rented out for Rs3,500 here for 20 days only while the same was available in local market for Rs2,000 for a month.
“I have spent Rs20,000 to bring my 36 animals here. If we want to bring anything from the city on normal rates, we have to pay Rs25 for car parking each time we enter the market or another option is to buy Rs1,700 ticket for 20 days,” he said.
Animal traders said that the entry fee had been increased from Rs450 to Rs500 for a big animal and Rs200 to Rs250 for a smaller one this year though the fee to enter the VIP block had remained the same. “Two years ago, a VIP block was sold for Rs15,000 but they have raised it to Rs35,000 now. At this expense, the only facility we are getting is irregular supply of water,” said Jamil Memon who had brought 360 animals to the market and paid over Rs200,000 for the extended stall.
About 66,000 big and 18,000 small animals had arrived while 200,000 were expected to come. Many small farmers had pooled money to get a stall in VIP block and the big parties had paid hundreds of thousands of rupees for the road-facing extended stalls while the rest were huddled in the middle. In all, there were about 183 VIP stalls and 30 vet clinics set up by different individuals.
Among the vets was Dr Kaleem Rajputana who had hired a small space for Rs25,000 to set up his clinic. He complained that his staff had to cover huge distances in the market spread over six acres on foot since they were not allowed to take vehicles. He said he was attending more to humans than animals at his clinic. The reason being the poor quality of services, he said, adding that the administration, faced with an acute water shortage, had failed to arrange water sprinklers to counter flying dust. “It is an open place and whenever a truck arrives and animals are off-loaded the whole place is surrounded with dust, making breathing difficult. Dust allergy is common and poor people have to spend extra money on its treatment,” he said.
Most traders had already got their animals vaccinated in their hometowns before bringing them here and as such there was little chance of an epidemic, he added.
The traders said the seasonal cattle market should be the responsibility of city or provincial government’s livestock department since the land didn’t belong to the military, and secondly, the poor were being taxed heavily for different services. However, all the stall-holders were satisfied with the steps taken for the security at the cattle market.
“Earlier, thefts were common at the old market at Al-Asif Square while police used to extort money on one pretext or the other. Now, we are safe but the cost is too high,” they said.
About the prices of animals, the traders said the expenses being incurred on fodder, transportation, taxes and at the cattle market itself had affected the prices.
When the executive officer of the cattle market, Adil Rafi Siddiqui, was approached, he said that the cattle market was a ‘joint venture’ of the town administration, police, rangers and the army and the generated revenue was being distributed accordingly. “The land is outside the limits of cantonment board and belonged to different individuals who are duly compensated by the army,” he replied when questioned about the status of the land.
The data of all animals, stall holders and revenue was computerised and all transactions were being carried out through banks. To different complaints, he said that the cattle market was a huge concern and it was difficult to satisfy everybody.
When asked about the shortage of water, Shahab Ali, the contractor managing sales and purchase of the cattle market, said that water was being provided free of cost. A private contractor was also hired to meet shortages, he added.
“Army’s intervention has brought the crime rate to zero and today you can see thousands of families visiting the cattle market late night. The army has given respect to traders who can now do business without any fear,” he believed.