10,000 goats sold on eve of Bakrid

PATNA: An estimated 10,000 goats were sold off at the Bakra Mandi at Raja Bazaar in Patna on the eve of Bakrid which is to be celebrated on Wednesday.

While the local goats priced Rs 8,000 to Rs 30,000, Barbari goats from Etawah, Jaunpuri from Allahabad and Ajmeri goats from Ajmer fetched Rs 15,000 each. Totapari goats were sold for 25,000 each.

Athar Qureshi, a seller from Ballia in UP, said he did good business. “We are blessed that it didn’t rain like the previous year. Many sacrificial animals had fallen ill due to waterlogging in the area last year,” he recalled and added he would go back to Ballia on Wednesday morning to celebrate the festival with his family.

Wasim Khan of Pataliputra Colony bought two goats named Kallu and Moti. “I paid Rs 28,000 for the two,” he said.

Mandi coordinator Mohd Zia-ul Khan said the sales would continue till midnight and also on Bakrid morning.

Meanwhile, the Patna district administration has made arrangements near the Gandhi statue at Gandhi Maidan for the Eid prayer which will be led by Madrasa Shamsul Hoda head Maulana Mashhood Ahmad Nadvi Quadri at 8am on Wednesday.

According to DM Kumar Ravi, five water tankers and water ATM machines have been installed at the ground. Six ambulances with doctors will also be deputed at the ground for emergency cases, if any, he said.

The traffic police will regulate the traffic movement near Gandhi Maidan. Parking spaces have also been created inside and outside the ground.