With only two days left for Bakrid (Eid-al-Adha), buying a suitable animal for sacrifice is high on priority among Muslims.
While many are heading towards Mehndi Ghat on Gomti banks, the enthusiasm seems to be missing at the temporarily set up market.
In fact, the ‘Bakra Mandi’ wore a deserted look on Wednesday.
When goat sellers are complaining of low turnout of buyers, the prospective buyers insist there aren’t many suitable animals up for sale.
“Lucknow’s Bakra Mandi used to be one of the best in the state. Here we used to get good price of our livestock. Things seem to be different this time,” said Abdul Miyan, a goat seller, who came from Unnao.
He admits that only a few sellers have turned up this year.
“Buyers look for variety, which is lacking this time,” he admits while talking about difficulties they face in transporting livestock to the market.
Presently, the market has varieties like Jamnapuri, available at around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 and Totapuri, available between Rs 35,000 and Rs 45,000.
“This is certainly not the same Bakra Mandi that it used to be. Initially, it used to be set up near Nibu Park and one used to get a good range of goats in the markets. But this time there are fewer varieties and that too are available at a very high price,” said Izzat Hussain, a goat buyer.
{{/usCountry}}“This is certainly not the same Bakra Mandi that it used to be. Initially, it used to be set up near Nibu Park and one used to get a good range of goats in the markets. But this time there are fewer varieties and that too are available at a very high price,” said Izzat Hussain, a goat buyer.
{{/usCountry}}Hussain claimed many are heading to neighbouring districts where the prices of the goats are comparatively low and huge range is available.
“Districts like Barabanki, Unnao, Faizabad, Sitapur have big goat markets and hence becoming the preferable destinations for goat buyers,” he added.