Kurali, November 25
Milch livestock bought from Punjab animal fairs fall victim to traffic jams on national highways.

Young calves many times end up losing their lives to the traffic in areas of Delhi, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Yamunagar.

Costliest buffalo The costliest buffalo, a Murrah, costing Rs 75,000 was the centre of attraction for visitors to the fair on Sunday. Sulakhan Singh of Kot Sahiya village in Faridkot district, bought it from Ganganagar for Rs 35,000 and hopes to sell it for Rs 75,000. Reason: the animal yields 16 litres to 17 litres per day, is healthy and young. The costliest buffalo worth Rs 75,000 on display at the cattle fair. — Tribune photo by Vicky Gharu

Loss of life of a calf not only costs its trader dear, but even the mother of deceased ends up yielding less milk than usual, leading to a sharp decline in its re-sale price.

Traders, swarming the Kurali animal fair, one of the biggest in Punjab, suffer losses by losing young calves to traffic hazards.

Mohammad Aneef, a trader from Muzaffarnagar, who has been buying cattle from fairs of Punjab and Haryana for past one decade, says, “It takes almost a week to ferry cattle bought from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh (UP). We travel at night and rest during daytime.

During the day hours, the cattle are well fed and taken care of. But the moment we enter crowded roads of cities like Delhi, we gamble with destiny of the livestock bought.”

He adds that five or six hours of traffic jams are enough for animals to lose their patience.

It becomes difficult to manage the livestock on crowded roads and often young ones fail to survive.

Railways is no better option for these traders, who find it impossible to provide fodder and water to livestock in moving coaches. Moreover, as per the rules, animals purchased at animal fairs can be transported only after obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Animal Welfare Board of India or the centre in district.

“Most of the time we end up harassed in getting this NOC. It is better to take animals by road, rather than bear the brunt of bribing people for NOC and further loading into rail coaches,” added a trader on the condition of anonymity.

This animal fair attracts traders from all over country from UP, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Maharashtra and particularly cities like Gwalior and Agra. Healthy and high-yielding milch cattle from Punjab are much in demand in these areas that largely depend on them for milk.

Traders here buy a buffalo for around Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 and sell it in other states for Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000.

The fair is also the epicentre of allied activities that include people seeking “useless” animals for slaughter. “People from the Muslim community buy cattle for slaughter. The livestock is taken to Dera Bassi for this purpose,” says Gurdeep Singh, a contractor from Kakrali village, working at the Kurali fair.

It is an employment centre for youths seeking work on daily wages. Fair organisers have a group of people who keep an eye every transaction and check if the seller has notified the actual cost of animal with the organisers or not. “As per the Punjab government rules, we are supposed to charge 4 per cent of fees of sale from trader. Some traders give us wrong details, incurring losses to us,” says Narinder Singh, fair officer and director of the nearby milk plant.