There was a time when business centers of Pakistan Karachi In large numbers donkey carts used to be the main means of transporting goods.
But rising costs of donkey feed and expanding city limits have put these donkeys out of business.
In the narrow bazaars of the southern part of Karachi, noisy donkey carts have long been a must for transporting goods as the bazaars were not accessible for large vehicles.
These beasts of burden were a source of livelihood for low-income workers.
But rising inflation made fodder expensive and then the city’s population grew enormously, almost 50 times more than the population before the creation of Pakistan.
Now long distances have become a test of endurance of these animals.
According to Muhammad Malik, the owner of the donkey named Raja: ‘We continued the work of the fathers but I want my children to study and do something else.’
27-year-old Atif spends seven and a half hundred rupees daily on his donkey, compared to earlier spending only two hundred rupees, which is the cost of Atif’s own plate of food.
Atif, who worked in the colonial-era Bolton Market, said, ‘It has become difficult to make a living from this work.’
According to official estimates, there are about 6 million donkeys in Pakistan, meaning one donkey for every 40 people in the country.
Aslam Shah, a local animal trader, said that most of the donkeys are in Karachi, which became a city of more than 20 million people due to migration after the partition of India.
Aslam Shah, 69, said that now the demand for donkeys has reduced and very few are sold at the animal market held every Sunday.
‘Sometimes weeks and months go by and we don’t sell a single donkey,’ he says.
Shops open mid-day at Bolton Market. After shopping, people start negotiating with the owner of the donkey cart to carry the goods, but most of the donkey carts remain empty. Their owners and animals sit idle.
These donkey carts were once so common on the roads that the government issued them number plates. But now new roads and overpasses have been built in the city where animal-drawn vehicles are prohibited from entering.
Ali Usman, 21, looked longingly at a three-wheeled motor rickshaw loaded with sacks of rice, saying, ‘I have been told to carry enough goods and to go to the other side of the city to deliver the goods. will happen
‘It will take me three to four hours. In this time, the rickshaw will complete two rounds. That’s why I was not given the job.’
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Nauman Farhat, a wholesaler at Empress Market, built in 1884, said that he tries to give some work to donkey cart owners every day.
“Donkey carts are a part of our culture and I don’t want it to end,” he said.
An animal welfare worker in Karachi, who asked not to be named, said the increasing distances and bad roads exhaust the animals.
‘Due to lack of resources, donkey cart owners use ropes or cloths, which cause chafing wounds on the donkeys’ bodies.’
Abuse causes sores near the mouths of donkeys, making it difficult for them to feed.
But some people still believe that donkeys will remain in Karachi.
Shema Khan, manager of Karachi’s Bunji Project Animal Shelter, said: ‘Despite these difficult conditions, these animals are an important part of the informal economy. They are still the cheapest form of transport.’
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