Seasonal hide traders in Brahmanbaria abandoned piles of cattle hides on the town’s main roads after failing to sell them at government-fixed prices, leaving rotting hides to spread a stench and triggering public anger.

The traders had gathered on TA Road from midday on Eid-ul-Adha, but buyers stayed away. After waiting through the night without finding customers, many dragged unsold hides to other parts of town before dumping them at Old Court Road, Pouro Super Market and Pubali Bank Chattar areas. The discarded hides began to decompose, causing a foul odour.

The commerce ministry fixed the price of salted cowhide at BDT 62 to 67 per square foot on May 13, up from BDT 60 to 65 last year. But traders in Brahmanbaria, a district that had projected demand for around 169,000 sacrificial animals, said the administered rate outside Dhaka had no bearing on actual market conditions. Seasonal traders, who bought hides on the Eid day expecting to flip them to wholesalers, were left holding stock they could not shift at any price.

“It’s unacceptable to abandon hides on the street just because you didn’t get the price you wanted,” passerby Imam Hossain said. “The municipal authority must act immediately. Otherwise these hides will rot further and the stench will become unbearable.”

Another pedestrian, Yusuf Ali, blamed manipulation by a hide syndicate. “The seasonal traders were defeated by the syndicate and simply dumped the hides,” he said. “This valuable resource has been turned into a putrid waste. The administration should step in.”

Around 15,000 farmers in the district rear sacrificial cattle. The seasonal hide trade is a significant post-Eid activity, but the mismatch between prices set by the government and weak local demand has repeatedly led to distress sales or dumping in recent years.