Poor law, order situation: people may turn to social bodies to offer 'qurbani'

The city which is in grip of endemic law and order situation is forcing people to turn to social welfare organisations for performing 'qurbani' on their behalf to save themselves from the hassle of being robbed. This is the safest way and a great facility being provided by organisations like 'Saylani' and 'Alamgir Welfare Trust International,' (AWTI), on behalf of the harassed people.
Shakeel Dehlvi, Secretary General, told Business Recorder that besides law and order several other factors have forced people to take advantage of the facility that was unheard of in the past. While law and order is indeed poor, with the approach of Eidul Azha, the focus of criminals is more on cattle markets set up in the city.
Asia's biggest cattle market set up on Super Highway to facilitate people in buying sacrificial animals for the auspicious occasion faces the same challenge where cattle thieves and miscreants find their way to fleece general public. The Sohrab Goth Cattle Market has been set up on 650 acres with a total of 21 blocks out of which blocks one, two, three and six are VIP blocks. Except for the VIP blocks and a few roadside plots, no additional fee is being charged for huge space provided to the sellers. The cattle merchants have been given space as per the availability on first come first serve basis. However the miscreants find easy money in fooling people around for space, water, food and other services which the administration has taken as a challenge and have apprehended some of them through effective vigilance.
'Around half a dozen people involved in animal theft and other illegal activities, have been captured by administration of Maweshi Mandi so far. We are taking strict measures for security of animals, merchants and customers,' said Administrator Mandi Sohrab Goth Rana Imran in an exclusive chat with Business Recorder on Thursday.
He said one could only speculate as to how much money changes hands in a day in this cattle mandi as purchase of animal is just major act happening but there is animal feed, food business for visitors and other business activities in addition to some bulk buying by both cattle owners and general public. This huge business activity needs to be protected with utmost care and foolproof security arrangements.
He advised people to inform management or complaint cell regarding any harassment from miscreants. "We have proper arrangement to deal with such people while Rangers and police are also patrolling in and outside the mandi." He further added that we have requested Sindh Police and Rangers to make special arrangements for patrolling in nearby areas of Cattle Market.
The Herculean task of maintaining all kind of harmony in a given space which few days back was filled with wild bushes while some addicts were also finding it safe haven, the removal of all kinds of unwanted elements and objects took a lot of time and money, he mentioned while we had full support from Malir Cantonment Board.
Rana Imran said that complaint cell in Mandi is operational round-the-clock and takes immediate actions on the complaints from people. He added that all the shops and canteen owners have been instructed to ensure clean and hygienic food and beverages and it should be well maintained.
Moreover, a team of administration is randomly checking the quality of food and prices of the goods so that people could get them on the same price as available in other markets of the city. The administration of Maweshi Mandi has also penalised shopkeepers who were overcharging from customers and expelled one of them from the mandi for selling goods on higher price than the rates fixed by the administration.
To facilitate people Habib Metro and Tameer Bank have set up their branches at the Cattle Market while some banks are in process of installing their ATMs. Besides this, he added, the administration for the first time is providing free parking to all non-commercial vehicles to facilitate customers and visitors, while extensive security arrangements have been made with a security firm handling the internal security of the Cattle Market and special teams of police and Rangers patrolling the nearby areas.
"Moreover, free of cost medical facilities and medicines are being provided to the sacrificial animals at the cattle market to ensure that the animals remain healthy and do not spread diseases to other animals and humans," said Rana Imran. "It is our prime responsibility to keep the Asia's biggest cattle market safe for both the customers and sellers which is why we are ensuring the health of all animals to preempt any disease spread through animals," he added.
"Ten veterinary doctors along with ten para veterinary staff have been assigned by Sindh Livestock and Animal Husbandry Department who are working round-the-clock in two shifts to ensure the animals' health," he added. "In addition, a mobile medical camp by Sindh Livestock and Animal Husbandry Department has also started working in the Maweshi Mandi visiting different blocks on daily basis and treating the animals for free," he added. Rana Imran said that the Maweshi Mandi administration has also taken proactive measures for fire outbreak or any other calamity and a fire tender and an ambulance is present 24 hours in the mandi.
"Sufficient water supply in the mandi has been arranged and around 150 water tankers of 2000 gallons each are being provided daily to merchants free of cost for their animals' consumption to ensure the animals remain safe from diseases that arise from water shortage," said Rana Imran, Administrator of Maweshi Mandi, Sohrab Goth.
He said that despite the increasing number of sacrificial animals in mandi, water supply is more than demand. Special arrangements have been made by the Cantonment Board Malir to resolve the water shortage issue and unlimited drinking water for animals is being provided free of cost now. Cantonment Board Malir has also provided water drums to cattle merchants for the storage of free water and it is now the responsibility of the cattle merchant to keep their animals healthy by giving them sufficient drinking water and not utilise the free water for other purposes.
He added that every day the number of visitors and customers are increasing and it is expected to touch the highest numbers in the days to come. 'The momentum of the Mandi will be seen when millions of people are coming to see and buy the animals. Keeping this in mind, we have established a number of facilities for the visitors at the Cattle Market so that people can easily shop around without any sort of hassle,' added Imran.
He said that famous cattle farms including Afridi Cattle, Sindh Dairy and Cattle Farms, and Surmawala have set up their farms at the Cattle Market. "Hundreds of families besides other customers are coming to the Cattle Market, especially at night as more than one thousand searchlights have turned the night into day and it has become a safe and affordable entertainment for the public," added Rana.