PESHAWAR, Oct 15: People thronged different cattle markets in provincial metropolis on Tuesday to buy sacrificial animals for Eidul Azha.

There are only two official cattle markets one on Ring Road and other in Chamkani area in Peshawar but traders are running their business along the roads in almost every locality of the provincial metropolis to attract buyers of sacrificial animals.

Meanwhile, despite a warning by the district administration against collection of illegal fee at cattle markets, the influential groups, manning the markets, continue to charge people at their free will. They collect Rs300 to Rs700 from a buyer of an animal.

In the main cattle market on Ring Road, fee per animal was Rs700 but during the past two days another amount of Rs50 was added to it. The stick wielding young men don`t allow a buyer to leave the market without depositing the fee. They say that the contractor has assigned them with the duty to collect the additional Rs50 and theywill have to pay the money from their own pockets if they allow someone to leave the market without collecting money from him.

The traders have also occupied different crossings of roads and continue to sell their animals even in streets of various localities. The railways track near Gulberg and Nauthia has also been occupied by the traders.

However, there is no `illegal` fee for buyers at such places. In the past, various groups, associated with different political parties, used to extort money from buyers at such places.

`We have paid Rs12,000 for a space of 80 feet for keeping our animals and there is no illegal exit fee for buyers, Azeem Khan, an elderly trader, told this scribe.

He said that in the past the workers of different political parties exploited the buyers but the present government stopped the practice.

`In the past, we got a case registered against a former union council nazim for illegal collection of money but thisyear no one attempted to collect illegal fee,` an official of Municipal Corporation Peshawar (MCP) said.

He said that MCP had forbidden sale of animals in the streets and declared only two cattle markets legal but people preferred to buy animals near their homes.

Meanwhile, MCP directed its sanitation staff to remain alert and ensure cleanliness of the streets by timely lifting of garbage and remnants of sacrificial animals to keep the environment clean.

MCP Administrator Rasheed Khan directed the inspectors to supervise the sanitation work in their respective areas. High ranking officials could pay surprise visits to any locality, he said, adding strict action would be taken if any employee was found guilty of negligence.

Similarly, Airport Security Force has also appealed to the people to keep the environment clean and avoid throwing fossils of animals in the open near the airport.