Mumbai: A drastic drop in supply and the closure of Deonar abattoir due to the coronavirus outbreak has led to dealers across Mumbai selling goats as per the weight, making it reasonable and possible for buyers. The move has been introduced to make the goats available for the buyers at an affordable price as the business is suffering due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Mubin Shaikh, a goat seller in Central Mumbai, said, “We know this time people don’t have a good budget due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. Keeping these factors in mind, sellers in the city are keeping the rates almost fifty per cent lower as compared to the past year”.
Another seller said, “I bought 50 goats this year. Till last year, the price of goats were around '500 to '700 per kg but this year we sold it for '350 to '380 per kg.”
With animal markets closed due to the outbreak, sellers have set up makeshifts stalls in Muslim-dominated areas, and the extra effort on their part to operate the business. While the state government has asked people to go online to buy sacrificial animals this year, activists said many buyers are not technology savvy enough to carry out such transactions.
Imran Shaikh, a resident of Nagpada said that his family used to sacrifice three goats every year but this year they bought just one for '30,000 as that is all they could afford.
Another buyer on the condition of anonymity said that he bought a goat for '12,000. “Until last year buying a goat for Bakrid at this price was not possible,” he added.
