Eid-ul-Azha, the Muslim religious festival, is tomorrow. In other years this is the peak time for buying and selling animals, but rain has caused trouble for buyers and sellers. With rain falling on and off, mud and water have collected in the markets, making it very hard to move around.

That was the scene on Wednesday (28 June) afternoon at several markets in the capital, including Shanir Akhra, Kamalapur and Golapbagh. In most of these markets water had pooled on the paths. As on Tuesday (27 June), it has been raining on and off since the morning, though more heavily today.

Animal sellers said: "Since Tuesday fewer buyers have been coming to the market because of the rain, and today even fewer. If we can't sell all the animals today, we'll have to take them home at a big loss."

Parvez Mia brought five cattle to Kamalapur from Sirajganj. He told Jago News: "I came four days ago and have sold three of the five. Two are still left. Because of the rain nothing sold on Tuesday or today. People aren't coming. If I can't sell today I'll have to take them home at a loss. Each of my two cows is worth over Tk 2 lakh, but customers offer Tk 2 lakh for both. How can I sell?"

Trader Sharif Molla brought 12 cattle to Shanir Akhra from Pabna. "I came four days ago and have only sold five so far," he said. "I don't see customers. The few who come don't even offer what I spent on feed. Two days of rain have sunk us."

Sumon Patwary, who came to buy an animal at Golapbagh, said the rain had caused great difficulty for two days. "Today I first went round Shanir Akhra but didn't find a cow I liked. The market is a mess of mud and water because of the rain; you can't even walk around to look at cattle. Today is the last day and I have to buy, so I had no choice but to come. Prices do seem somewhat lower, though."

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