~BR RESEARCH [Sobia Saleem]
With every passing day, the zeal and zest of Eid-ul-Azha is gaining impetus. On one hand, women are actively buying recipe books, spices and other ingredients for preparing the tantalizing dishes, the teenagers are excitingly chatting about the attributes of the animals and purchasing knick-knacks for beautifying their animals, while the bread earners are looking for better and affordable deals to buy animals and perform this religious ritual on the face of smutty law and order situation and spiraling prices.
Clued-up with informed sources, over 300,000 cows and 200,000 goats are expected to make their ways to Karachi this year for Eid-ul-Azha; yet only small numbers have turned up so far. However, advertisements of different cattle farms and Mandis already dot the streets of Karachi.
Animal vendors have also started appearing in the city especially in the busy areas like Saddar and Nazimabad. Moreover, mosques have also started offering portions in collective sacrifices, with prices ranging from Rs6000 to Rs12000 per share.
Over the years, the trend of online buying and selling of sacrificial animals has also emerged incredibly with escalating number of orders being placed each year. The online cattle markets provide photos, videos, and other descriptions including the type and price of animals, thus facilitating people in making well-informed decisions. This alternative also particularly entices Pakistanis residing overseas whereby they can perform the sacrificial custom smoothly and get the meat delivered to their loved ones or to a welfare organisation of their choice.
Hasnain Raza of Qurbanionline told BRR that the e-qurbani platforms develop a centralized reservoir that properly channelise assets generated from the sacrifice (meat, hides and by products), thus making a sanguine difference in the economy.
He highlighted that with the growing security concerns in the country, rising food inflation, high animal haulage, oversee and slaughter charges, people are tremendously inclined towards the alternative of online qurbani whereby they can select the animals, book their orders and make payments online and the orders will be executed and delivered to the given address within the three days of Eid-ul-Azha without any hassle.
Besides, since the online farms are engaged in volume-based business, the marginal cost per animal plunges and they are able to offer competitive prices.
Last year, the major reason that was quoted by vendors for exorbitant animal prices was the devastation caused by the floods. This year, however, prices have managed to soar without a natural calamity. This time around, animal vendors say the bills ratcheted up are thanks to high costs of transportation and staging at the animal markets set up in and around the city.
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