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Kondhwa police issues disciplinary notices to 12 goat market ops ahead of Bakri Eid
Police in Pune, India have issued notices to 12 small and large goat market operators, warning them against loading, unloading or tying goats on the roads ahead of Bakri Eid or Eid-al-Adha on 28 June. Operators have been ordered to ensure that untoward incidents do not occur during business hours. Notices were issued under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code after complaints from area residents about traffic congestion and commotion in previous years. The illegal goat market in Kausar baug-Kondhwa has grown in size and sees goats being ferried from different parts of the country.
Ahead of Bakri Eid or Eid-al-Adha on June 28, the Kondhwa police till Thursday have issued notices to at least 12 small and big sacrificial goat market operators under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to discipline themselves or face action.
The goat market operators have been warned against loading/unloading or tying their goats on the roads and have been ordered to ensure that untoward incidents do not occur during business hours. The police have issued such notices for the first time after receiving complaints from the public about traffic congestion and commotion in the lead-up to Eid.
Kondhwa police station incharge, Santosh Sonawane, said, “We have issued notices to at least 12 such goat market operators who have set up markets for the sale of goats. The police had received complaints from the area residents following which the notices have been issued under section 149 of the CrPC, directing these operators to follow certain rules so as to avoid traffic congestion and public inconvenience.”
What began as a small goat market in Kausar baug-Kondhwa in 2014 has now grown in size and sees goats being ferried from different parts of the country. Every year, ahead of Bakri Eid, thousands of sacrificial goats are lined up for sale leading to overcrowding and congestion. According to area residents, the situation has worsened over the years prompting them to seek intervention from the police and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to bring a semblance of normalcy to the trade ahead of Eid.
Mohammad Anas Qureshi, a resident of Kausar baug, said, “The illegal goat market in our area causes issues related to cleanliness and traffic congestion and other grievances for the area residents. The legalised market known as ‘Laxmi Market’ for the shepherd community to sell goats has been neglected over the years. Today, selling goats in Kausarbaug-Kondhwa has become a profiteering and commercial enterprise where area residents suffer the most. We have time and again demanded that the illegal goat markets must be shut. The goat markets should be located outside the city. The existing market has become a nuisance for all.”
Social worker Saleem Mulla said, “The goat markets are found violating the rules and there is hardly any space to move on the roads in the run-up to Eid. Area residents and commuters suffer the most during the 10 days before Bakri Eid. Commuters nearly take an hour to reach Kondhwa from Kausarbaug due to the traffic jams. The buyers park their vehicles haphazardly while negotiating purchases. Small-time goat and fodder vendors encroach upon footpaths meant for pedestrians, forcing the latter to walk on roads which too are occupied by a large number of vendors.”
Mohammad Zia, a resident of Kausar baug, said, “It is a major nuisance and every residential society is greatly disturbed by goat markets ahead of Bakri Eid. Goats arrive from all corners of the country right during the onset of the monsoon which can lead to the outbreak of diseases. All goat markets are illegal and must be shut down instead of simply issuing notices. There is a religious injunction that if community activities are causing trouble to the citizens, it is best to pause such activities. Goats should be sold only at authorised markets outside the city as per scientific and municipal norms. It is also the failure of the PMC and the police as they are not taking strict action like seizing the goats from these unauthorised vendors.”
