By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The meat-eating population of the State has been hit hard for the last few days due to the inadequate supply of cattle from the wholesale market.
The main reason for the short supply of cattle is attributed to the ongoing strike of cattle suppliers, which has resulted in closure of the weekly wholesale market located at Khanapara for the past two weeks.
The cattle suppliers have gone on strike in opposition to the unreasonable fees levied by the authorities in different states.
Hellick Warjri, former president of Khasi Jaintia Butchers’ Welfare Association (KJBWA) said, “There are only a few meat sellers who are carrying on the trade by purchasing locally available cattle at a very high rate. They cannot hike the price of meat as there was a recent price escalation of beef from Rs 140 to Rs 160 per kg. These meat sellers are carrying their business at a gross loss only to serve their regular customers.”
“The only option left for the association is to temporarily close down the business until the supply of cattle improves,” he added.
Warjri also said that there is a huge gap between demand and supply of cattle to the local markets in East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts.
“Normally, we purchase around 2500 to 3000 cattle in a week from the weekly cattle market at Khanapara. At present, we are getting only about 500 to 600 cattle in a week,” he said.
Warjri also informed that the situation may improve once the market in Khanapara opens on July 7.