Locally discarded offal finds its way from the streets of Punjab to international markets
FAISALABAD:
What many households discard as garbage after Eidul Azha has become a valuable source of income for nomadic communities and sanitation workers who collect animal remains and sell them in local and international markets.
For Abdul Ghafoor, a nomad who lives in a roadside tent along Sargodha Road, Eid is the most profitable time of the year.
He said the seasonal increase in animal waste gives him an income he can’t match the rest of the year.
He explained that a specific part of the intestines of cattle, locally referred to in trade slang as “Chodra”, has considerable commercial value.
According to him, he extracts a football-sized portion of the stomach lining attached to the intestines and sells it to local dealers for Rs800 to Rs1,000, earning instant cash.
He said these middlemen clean, salt and dry the material before selling it to big dealers, especially in Karachi, from where it is allegedly exported to China.
In China, it is further processed for use in medical manufacturing, including surgical sutures used in surgeries worldwide.
These finished products are also imported back to Pakistan for use in hospitals and medical institutions.
Ghafoor claimed that by collecting such materials from urban and rural areas during Eid, he earns over Rs100,000 on the first day alone.
He added that competition for collection often leads to disputes with municipal sanitation workers, especially those associated with “Suthra Punjab”, as both groups consider the material very valuable.
An official in the district livestock department, Dr. Suhail Anjum, explained that large ruminants like cows and buffaloes have four stomachs – rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum.
He said the part commonly collected and sold commercially is the omasum, which plays a role in digestion and consists of several thin layers of tissue.
He added that in the international meat and medical supply chain, especially in exports to China, processed omasum (also known as ox casings) is used in industrial applications, including the production of surgical sutures and other medical materials.
Dr. Anjum noted that this seasonal trade has grown into a profitable informal industry, which is why both nomadic collectors and sanitation workers actively compete for access to the material during Eid.
He said this competition often results in confrontations at dumping sites.
He further stated that the livestock by-products market experiences a sharp increase during Eid, turning what is normally waste into a temporary but very lucrative economic opportunity for many low-income workers.
