Hyderabad: Mutton prices set to hit the roof soon

Hyderabad: Mutton prices are bound to increase further in the coming days as Jiyaguda Mandi, which caters to most part of the city would be closed in a couple of days as the supply of sheep has come down because of the lockdown.

GHMC has four slaughterhouses at Amberpet, Chengicherla, Ramnasthpura, new Bhoiguda and Gowlipura. The Jiyaguda is continuing illegally. The Jiyaguda Mandi caters to the core city and everyday an estimated over 9,000 sheep are slaughtered during the normal days. However, the number has come down drastically because of lockdown and only few vehicles take risk to transport the sheep. K Manish, a commission agent at the mandi, said that the main problem was availability of sheep.

The police personnel are not allowing vehicles from the districts leading to shortage in supply and rise in prices of mutton in the shops. Already the supply of sheep from neighbouring States has stopped and the supply from Telangana districts are also getting stopped, said Manish. The meat shops were kept open along with the groceries as mutton is included in the essential commodities. Already the prices of the meat are soaring as it is priced between Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 per kilogram in the city.

One of the sheep breeders, Mohammad Sultan said that they were facing difficulties in bringing the sheep. One of our colleagues was imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 for bringing out his vehicle full of sheep hence the breeders are hesitant to come to the city. He also said that the local Sarpanchs are also causing obstructions. The Sarpanchs are asking the sheep breeders not to return to the village if they take the vehicles to the city. Because of this, many are not taking risk and not coming to the city, said Sultan. When the exorbitant pricing was brought to the notice of Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav, he said that government is contemplating to allow the movement of sheep vehicles to overcome the shortage.