Feast on last day of Ashadh in Pune; sale of 400 tonnes of chicken, 1,200 goats

Pune: On the last day of Hindu calendar’s Ashadh month, over 400 tonnes of chicken, 1,200 goats and fish were sold in the city on Sunday

Pune: On the last day of Hindu calendar’s Ashadh month, over 400 tonnes of chicken, 1,200 goats and fish were sold in the city on Sunday. From Monday, the holy month of Shravan begins when many Hindus do not eat non-vegetarian food and consume liquor.

Crowds at mutton and fish market in Gansehs peth on the occasion of Gatari Amavasya in Pune on Sunday. On the last day of Hindu calendar’s Ashadh month, many citizens feasted on non-veg food. (RAVINDRA JOSHI/HT)

Since early morning, long queues were seen outside chicken, mutton and fish shops across the city. Many preferred to buy cooked food from restaurants and home-cooked deliveries.

The last day of Ashadh is also popularly known as the “Akhad special party” celebrated with drinks and non-veg food.

“The import volume of chicken has been high since last two months and rates were also stable till last week. Later, it dropped by around ₹40 per kg, but today since morning the rate per kg remained stable at ₹210 and over 400 tonnes of chicken were sold in Pune city on Sunday. The sale figure in rest of the district was 250-300 tonnes,” said Rupesh Pardeshi, president of Pune district broiler association.

There was a huge demand for the goat mutton.

“Mutton shop owners were prepared for it and brought extra goats for today. More than 1,200 goats were brought to the city on Saturday at various mutton shops and the rate was between ₹700 and ₹740 per kg. Compared to last year, this time there was good sale of mutton, as Covid restrictions were relaxed and people now prefer mutton,” said Prabhakar Kamble, president, Mutton Shopkeepers Association, Pune.

Thakur Pardeshi, one of the fish shop owners in the city, said, “Supply was less compared to demand in the city today. Kingfish, pamphlet, mackerel and prawn were in high demand. With less supply, the rates were hiked by around 20 per cent.”

Many sought home-cooked non-vegetarian food. Sagar Abnawe said, “We ordered food from one of our friends who cooks at home and does home delivery. We ordered chicken and variety of fish dishes and enjoyed with the family.”