Prices of sheep touch new high this Bakrid

Falaknuma: With Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) to be celebrated on August 22, the prices of sheep meant for sacrifice touched new high this year. A pair of sheep is now being sold between on roadside stalls anywhere from Rs 16,000 to Rs 80,000, which was sold for at a starting price of Rs 12,000 the previous year. 

Depending on the size and breed, the traders who have setup stalls on roadside in Falaknuma, Chandrayanagutta, Baba Nagar, Barkas, Phisalbanda, Malakpet, Chanchalguda, Engine Bowli, Kalapatthar, Bahadurpura, Kishan Bagh, Asif Nagar, Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki, Golconda and some other areas are hopeful of selling of their stock before the festival.

Some cattle traders attribute the rise in prices and low supply of the animals to different factors including increase in transportation costs, heavy rains and floods in different states. With the sheep arriving to the city in wet condition following heavy rains in different states and from other parts of City, the traders have put up halogen bulbs at the stalls to keep the animals dry and avert possibility of attracting any disease. 

Iqbal Afzal, a trader said that for 16 years he has been doing this seasonal business and this year the price of sheep has gone up because of the incessant rains, which affected transportation from districts and other States, besides lack of stock in the local markets in the City. “Even though animals come from Jalpally and Jiyaguda farms, but due to the huge demand sheep are procured from Bhongir, Nalgonda, Mahboobnagar, Gadwall, Sangareddy, Zaheerabad, Vikarabad, Tandur, Kurnool etc and from other states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh,” he said. 

Akhlaq Ahmed, another trader said that the sheep come in different types like Telangana Potla, Dumba, Kadga, Nasi, Khassi, Menda, Jamunapuri with (long ears) and some other varieties. The Khassi is the most costly breed which starts from Rs 50,000 a pair and depending on the size the price may touch Rs 1 lakh. This breed is generally bred as pet in most of the households in countryside of Uttar Pradesh and Madhra Pradesh. He also said that the prices may differ a night before Eid as per market situation.

Md Aslam a customer also observed that the prices were too high, when compared to the previous year.  “I can say that there is an increase of about Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for each pair this year, even though the festival will be celebrated on Wednesday,” he noted.

BY M M Farooqui