OUR STAFF REPORTER NOORPUR THAL - Eidul Azha is around the corner and the Muslims have started preparing and purchasing 'halal animals for sacrifice on the occasion. Eidul Azha, also known as festival of sacrifice or Greater Eid is an important religious day celebrated by Muslims across the world to commemorate the willingness of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismail (AS) as an act of obedience to Allah Almighty, before He (Allah) intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. Muslims, who can afford sacrificial animals and the meat is divided into three parts. The celebrations begin after the Haj, the annual pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia by Muslims from world over, descend from Mount Arafat. Talking to TheNation TMO Raja Zahoor Ahmad said that the TMA had approved a sale point near Rangpur Noopur bypass for the sale of sacrificial animals. He further said that purchase and sale of sacrificial animals is exempted from all taxes. It is witnessed during the survey that the animal traders were exploiting the situation and demanding exorbitant prices for their animals. The prices are almost double as compared to the last years. Regarding high prices of sacrificial animals, a trader Khuda Bakhsh told this scribe that worst floods in different areas of the country killed uncountable animals while out of survived animals, most of the animals have been smuggled to other countries, which caused shortage of animals. Another trader Malik Muhammad Zubair Awan said that beside others reasons, price of feed and other essential products, used for breed of animals had also soared drastically which caused raise in the prices of sacrificial animals.