According to the Mumbai Milk Producers Association (MMPA), most of the trucks carrying milk from cooperative societies or farms in hinterland Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and a handful of corporates were stopped.
पेट्रोल-डीजल, दूध-सब्जी की कमी, और बढ़ सकती है मंहगाई; ट्रक ड्राइवरों की हड़ताल जारी
Truck, dumper and bus drivers are protesting on the roads against the new hit and run law of the central government. Their agitation continued for the second day on Tuesday, due to which milk supply in Mumbai was severely disrupted. Thousands of trucks carrying milk remained stranded at various places on national, inter-state or state highways and could not reach the city.
A large number of Mumbaikars had to do without their favorite morning tea and milk for their children. In some areas delivery was as late as 10am or later.
According to the Mumbai Milk Producers Association (MMPA), most of the trucks carrying milk from cooperative societies or farms in hinterland Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and a handful of corporates were stopped.
Milk is brought to Mumbai daily in insulated tankers from districts like Kolhapur, Sangli, Nashik, Satara (Maharashtra), Indore, Dewas (both Madhya Pradesh) or Anand, Banaskantha, Surat and Mehsana (all Gujarat).
“Mumbai requires around 50-60 lakh liters of milk every day, of which 60 per cent is cow milk and the rest buffalo milk,” MMPA committee member Chandan Singh told IANS. Thousands of trucks are stuck midway.
Chandan Singh said each insulated milk-tanker has the capacity to carry up to 20 tonnes of milk, from where it is transferred to mini-tankers of two-three tonnes capacity for distribution to the final retailers.
MMPA committee member C.K. “Apart from milk in large quantities, Mumbai consumes more than four lakh liters of fresh buffalo milk, which is more expensive and creamier,” Singh said. But since it is produced in the fields or on the outskirts of the city, its supply has not been affected yet.
Chandan Singh said, “If milk tankers are left on the roads for a long time in the hot sun, the milk stock will get spoiled after pasteurization and there will be no option but to throw it away.”
Along with the milk ‘famine’, many parts of Maharashtra are facing acute shortage of fuel, petrol and diesel since Monday evening, with some places running out of fuel.
This is worrying vehicle owners and has also sparked discussion among consumers, as the supply of vegetables, fruits and food grains or essential commodities may be adversely affected and prices may increase.
Long queues of vehicles are being seen at various petrol pumps as fuel tanker drivers also join the movement to protest against the new MV Act rules, which impose a stringent prison sentence of 10 years for hit-and-run accident cases and 7 There is a provision of fine of Rs lakh.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Kishore Tiwari, several farmer unions and transporter organizations have strongly criticized the new law and demanded its immediate repeal.
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