Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, farmers bring their animals to Dhaka from all over the country to make buying easier for city dwellers, who complete their sacrifice with these animals. Every year the cattle markets take on a festive air around the Eid of sacrifice, and many people go with their families to see and buy animals. The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) earn large revenues from these markets.

Subject to the sighting of the moon, Eid-ul-Azha will be held in the country on 27 or 28 May. This year the two city corporations plan to set up 24 temporary cattle markets in the capital. The DNCC has already invited tenders for leasing markets at 12 separate sites, while the DSCC is preparing to announce tenders for another 12 temporary markets.

Sacrificial animals will also be sold at the DNCC's permanent Gabtoli market and the DSCC's permanent Sarulia market. The markets will run for five days in total, including Eid day.

Meanwhile, the DSCC is weighing whether to hold a market at Aftabnagar, because of boundary complications, the environment of the residential area and fears of public suffering. Last year the leasing process for a cattle market at Aftabnagar was suspended because of resistance from local people and a High Court injunction.

On 9 April the DNCC invited tenders naming 12 markets, with government prices: the vacant space under the elevated expressway next to Khilkhet Bazar (Tk 1.51 crore); vacant space at Eastern Housing, Mirpur Section-6 (Tk 1,76,47,858); the vacant space of the Mirpur Kalshi Balur Math (16 bighas) (Tk 30 lakh); vacant space next to Dhaka Polytechnic Institute (Tk 1,13,05,900); vacant space next to Merul Badda kitchen market (Tk 14 lakh); and vacant space beside Iqra Madrasa in East Hajipara, Ward 23 (Tk 13.5 lakh).

The others are vacant space next to the 40-foot road at Bosila, Mohammadpur (Tk 1,96,20,456); vacant space in the Bou Bazar area next to Sectors 16 and 18, Uttara Diabari (Tk 8,30,33,334); vacant space from Bhatulia Saheb Ali Madrasa to the Uttara Ranabhola sluice gate next to Ranabhola Avenue, Sector 10 (Tk 88,20,750); vacant space in Rahmannagar residential area next to Kanchkura Bazar, Ward 44 (Tk 15,05,500); vacant space in Paschim Para next to the Mastul checkpost, Khilkhet (Tk 93,22,334); and vacant space next to Sutitola canal, Bhatara (Tk 3,12,76,667).

According to the DNCC's estate department, individuals or organisations wishing to bid must buy tender documents, which will be sold at the DNCC's Nagar Bhaban and all its zonal offices, the Dhaka divisional commissioner's office, the Dhaka district superintendent of police's office and the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office. Anyone can buy them by depositing the fixed amount at a designated bank. The last day for sale of schedules in the first phase is 26 April. Bids must be submitted between 9am and 1pm on 27 April at the Nagar Bhaban and the relevant offices, and the tender boxes will be opened at 2.30pm that day at the Nagar Bhaban in the presence of bidders or their representatives.

The tender notice says the lease for each of the 12 markets will go to whoever bids above the government price, and a cleaning fee of 10 percent of the lease value will be charged, to be deposited in the corporation's account by bank challan.

The tender was signed by the DNCC's chief estate officer, Mohammad Shawkat Osman. Its special instructions say that if bids cannot be received and opened on the set day because of a public holiday or unavoidable reasons, this will be done at the same time on the next working day. Waste inside the markets must be collected and kept at a set place for removal by the corporation's garbage trucks, and from noon on the day after Eid the corporation will begin cleaning, including removing the markets' bamboo poles.

According to the DSCC's estate department, the DSCC plans temporary markets at 12 sites to meet city dwellers' demand for sacrificial animals, and tenders will be invited by notice within the current week. The leases will go to the highest bidders, who will be able to hold markets at the set sites for five days including Eid day.

The sites in the DSCC's draft list include vacant space at the Moitree Sangha Club, North Shahjahanpur; vacant land on the riverbank west of the Postogola cremation ghat; vacant space east of Donia College and east and west of Chhontek Mohila Madrasa; vacant space south of the Sadeque Hossain Khoka field at Dholaikhal and at the Dholaikhal truck terminal; vacant space at Rahmatganj Club; and vacant space east of the Institute of Leather Technology college in Hazaribagh.

The list also includes vacant space on the canal bank east of Meradia Bazar; vacant space east of the Sadeque Hossain Khoka Community Centre, Kamalapur; vacant space north of Amulia Aligarh Model College; vacant space at the Shyampur Kadamtali truck stand; vacant space next to Rahmatganj Club in Lalbagh; and the Kamrangirchar embankment. The list was not final as of Sunday (12 April), and sites may be added or removed.

Asked about it, DSCC chief estate officer Mohammad Mobassher Hasan told Jago News that tenders for the south city's temporary cattle markets would be invited within two or three days. "We will give as many markets as we can, based on public demand," he said. He did not say exactly how many markets had been finalised.

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