With millions of people and their cattle marooned in the rain-hit districts, livestock traders have thronged the affected areas to purchase sacrificial animals for Eidul Azha at cheaper rates, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Left at the mercy of government authorities, the displaced people are compelled to sell their animals for less than half of the actual price, as they try to ensure two square meals for their families. Instead of supporting the rain-affected population, the traders are exploiting the situation to reap even higher profits. Well-placed sources in the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department told Pakistan Today that the department authorities seem reluctant to initiate any relief work for livestock in the flooded districts.
“The prices of livestock, particularly for sacrificial purposes, have fallen by around 65 percent in the districts badly-affected by recent rains and flooding. Due to extreme poverty and hunger, the people are forced to sell their costly animals at throwaway prices.” The sources said that taking advantage of the miseries of displaced people, a large number of livestock traders from Karachi have reached the affected areas and are purchasing animals at minimal prices. “The traders move is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the rain-affected people.”
Heavy monsoon downpours in Sindh have flooded many districts, including Badin, Umerkot, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Thatta, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan, playing havoc with the lives and properties of residents. Federal and provincial governments’ claims of rehabilitating around 9 million displaced people have proven hollow, and the poor people are selling their valuables to make their ends meet.
Opportunistic traders have arrived in the flooded areas to exploit the needy people but the police and district authorities have turned a blind eye to the situation. Despite a number of complaints from various districts being filed with the provincial livestock department, the authorities have not taken any worthwhile action against the traders, the sources said. Quoting a complainant named Rahim Bux Solangi, they said that he had sold out all animals to a Karachi trader to restart his small business and feed his family.
“The trader paid Rs 3,500 for a goat and Rs 10,000 for a cow,” they said. “The authorities will take months before facilitating us but we need cash to run daily affairs. If the government does not try to help the poor soon, the people will start selling their children in coming days,” the sources quoted Solangi. It is worth noting that last year also, livestock worth millions of rupees died in floods but no government authority came forward to provide relief to the flood-stricken population. Same is the situation this year also.
