As Eid-ul-Azha draws near, the crush of buyers at the capital's Qurbani markets keeps growing. Two days before Eid, trading has become brisk at the Aftabnagar market.

Those involved expect sales to rise further from Friday, 8 July.

On the afternoon of Thursday, 7 July, at least 10,000 cattle and goats had been brought to the market by traders from across the country. They had set up on almost every road, driving bamboo poles into the ground and stretching awnings. Traders were still arriving with animals from different areas that day.

Thousands of Dhaka residents are crowding the market to buy animals of their choice. Many bargain and then take their animals home by truck or pickup; many more walk round looking and haggling.

The Aftabnagar market has been leased out by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), which says it is one of Dhaka's biggest cattle markets. Traders bring Qurbani animals here from across the country and the crush of buyers is very heavy. The report adds that DSCC is carrying out round-the-clock supervision to keep the market running without interruption.

Alauddin Mia came to Aftabnagar two days ago from Pabna with 14 small and medium cattle. He is asking Tk 2.5 lakh for the biggest, a red one, and Tk 1 lakh 20 thousand for the smallest.

"I bought the cattle from various farmers in Pabna. Now I'll sell them all if I make even a small profit," he said. Three have already sold.

Amin Hossain has set up on Aftabnagar's Road 4 with four big cattle from Kushtia. Each will weigh 12-14 maunds, he said. Buyers are bargaining, but he is not selling as he is not getting his price.

"I've asked Tk 6 lakh for the 12-maund cow. Some buyers have offered up to Tk 4.5 lakh. Selling at that would be a loss, because raising cattle costs a lot more now. I hope trading will be higher on Friday," he said.

Zahirul Islam came from Khilgaon in the capital with his two schoolboy sons to buy an animal. "I walked around for an hour and couldn't find an animal I can afford anywhere. I planned to buy a cow within Tk 80,000, but I can't find a suitable one at that price. I liked two or four, but the owners are asking more than a lakh," he said.

Toll booth number three stands at the head of J Block in Aftabnagar. At 4pm, buyers and sellers were queuing in front of it with cattle, paying the toll one by one and leading the animals away. The leaseholder's staff are collecting a toll of five per cent on each animal.

Leaseholder Mizanur Rahman Dhanu said: "There are two days left until Eid. Trading has picked up at the last minute at Aftabnagar. Buyers are coming from different parts of Dhaka. Sales and toll collection are going on in an orderly way. Ten toll booths have been set up at the market."

Asked how many animals had been sold that day, he said the day's count is done after midnight. But according to booth number three's figures, more than 100 cattle were sold there from 10am to 4pm, and on that basis more than 1,000 cattle had been sold at the market so far that day.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.