BHUBANESWAR: It was field day for fish and meat vendors as the Twin City markets remained chock-a-block with non-vegetarian food lovers on Sunday, a day after ‘Chhadakhai’. Markets in both Cuttack and Bhubaneswar saw a combined business of over Rs 6 crore on the day.
Chhadakhai marked the end of a month-long abstinence from non-veg food items. But as the occasion fell on Saturday and Sankranti, it resulted in low business for fish and meat sellers as people refrained from consuming non-veg food.
However, the vendors made up for the loss on Sunday as people in large numbers were seen thronging the markets since morning to buy fish, crab, chicken, mutton and other non-vegetarian items.
Expecting a brisk business on the day, the vendors also hiked the prices of various non-vegetarian food products compared to normal days. But that was no deterrent for people wanting to indulge. On the day, while mutton sold at Rs 800 to Rs 850 per kg, desi chicken was priced at Rs 450 to Rs 600 a kg. The Sonali variety of chicken was also expensive at Rs 450 per kg. Fish, on the other hand, sold between Rs 250 and Rs 500. President of All Odisha Non-Veg Traders Federation Sk Muntaqeem Buksh said while Bhubaneswar markets saw a business of over Rs 5 crore, vendors at Cuttack sold items worth over Rs 1.37 crore.
There are over 4,000 vendors under the federation with 500 of them selling mutton, 1,500 chicken and 2,000 fish. “The sale of both mutton, chicken and fish was 2.5 times more today than the normal days,” informed Buksh.
To meet the excess demand for Chhadakhai, the vendors procured fish, chicken and mutton from different places across the state and Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata. While fish were brought from Chilika, Paradip and Andhra Pradesh, chicken was sourced from Puri, Cuttack, Khurda, Pipili and Baripada. Similarly, mutton was brought from Balangir, Baripada, Nayagarh and Kolkata, Buksh said.