Cowsheds in the border areas are empty as the flow of cattle has dropped significantly ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, leaving people to depend largely on local cattle for sacrificing.

The number of smuggled in Indian cattle is very limited, report our correspondents from Chapainawabganj, Benapole and Satkhira after visiting cowsheds in the last week of August.

Cattle traders anticipate cattle markets might not be overwhelmed with Indian cattle like previous years since only a handful of Indian cattle reached the sheds until yesterday. However, over 70 percent of the demand ahead of Eid can be met with locally reared cattle, according to sources.  

Thousands of Indian cows used to be sold at the Putkhali cowshed in Benapole, the biggest shed in the country. On average, 4,000-5,000 cows used to be brought to this shed every day, mostly from Hariana across the border.

Those cattle were kept in Putkhali, Navaron and Satmile cowsheds.

Vishawanath Kunda, tax officer of Navaron, said only 25,122 cattle including cows, goats and sheep entered Bangladesh through Benapole as of August 27 this year.

The number was 76,606 ahead of Eid in 2015 and 6,26,723 ahead of Eid in 2014, he said.

Right now there are no cattle in Putkhali shed. During a visit to the shed last week, only 15 to 20 cows were seen there.

Bazlur Rahman, a cattle trader from Putkhali in Jessore, said Indian cattle never come through any legal channels. Cowboys used to bring those from the Indian side. But now Indian cattle traders are also not brining in any cows.

The situation is same in the northern part of the country.

A number of cattle traders said the flow of cattle has dropped significantly in the last one and a half months. They, however, expressed hope that some smuggled cattle might enter the market immediately before Eid as water level of the Padma river is likely to drop.

Smugglers bring in cattle from Maldah, Murshidabad and adjacent areas of India to Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi areas mostly through river routes. This year the water level of the Padma has been high, which is one of the main reasons behind the low flow of Indian cattle.

Shafiqul Alam, a cattle trader of the region, said many low-lying areas have been flooded along the border due to this people living there could not collect cattle from India.

The price of cattle has already shot up in the border areas.

Mofizul Islam, a cattle trader, said prices of cattle increased this year due largely to tight security measures enforced by Indian Border Security Force.

As Bangladesh and India do not have any formal agreement or treaty on cattle imports, traders from both sides send and receive cattle through unofficial channels.

After fixing the price, Indian traders send cattle to Bangladesh and Bangladeshi traders send cowboys to receive those in the dark of the night.

During a visit to Bakher Ali village in Chapainawabganj late last month, it was seen that cowsheds were almost empty. Even a few months ago the sheds were full.

As many as 74,977 cattle entered the district from India in the last fiscal year, but this year the number is only 5,470 so far, as of August.

Traders said cattle prices might soar, as their supply is poor.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) had recently arranged a views-exchange meeting with the traders and frontier people at BGB 9 Battalion headquarters in Chapainawabganj to create awareness.

As the chief guest of the meeting, Brig Gen Shahrier Ahmed Chowdhury, commander of Rangpur region, asked everyone not to cross the zero point of the frontier. He said most of the border killings occurred as people cross the border to smuggle cattle in.

Our Chapainawabganj, Satkhira and Benapole correspondents contributed to this report.