Organised milk producers of West Bengal on Friday said they are facing no disruption in supplies because of the lockdown, but individual cattle owners find themselves in distress situation because of suspension of train services.
Some of the big organised players like Mother Dairy (Delhi), Keventer Agro and the state animal resources department are maintaining their supply levels as before, various sources said
"We are trying to maintain the production and supply at earlier levels and there is no disruption as such. Rather, we are aiming at raising production volumes but are constrained due to lack of manpower," Animal Resources Department minister Swapan Debnath told PTI
The state government supplies milk from its Haringhata and Belgachia central dairies where average daily production is between 10,000 to 15,000 litres per day in each of the two facilities.
The biggest supplier of milk of the state government is Mother Dairy Kolkata where the daily production and supply stands at around 1.70 lakh litres per day, he said.
Mayank Jalan, CMD of Keventer Agro, one of the largest pouch milk suppliers in the state, is also of the same opinion.
"There is no problem with milk collection from the farmers' cooperatives and cooperation from the state government is exemplary," Jalan said.
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"If we see any problem cropping up, we get it resolved by taking it to the authorities concerned," he said.
He said Keventer supplies around 2.5 lakh litres per day under the brand Metro dairy and there is no impact whatsoever due to the lockdown.
Largest milk supplier in Kolkata, Amul, initially faced some disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak and supplies had come down marginally on a daily basis.
"Before the coronavirus outbreak, Amul used to supply around 8.5 lakh litres per day in Kolkata," an official of the company said.
However, there had been some disruptions in supplies after the outbreak and supplies had come down to around 7.70 lakh litres per day. "But things are again being gradually restored at the earlier levels," he said.
Mother Dairy Delhi, which markets its Dailicious brand in the city, is also not facing any disruption in supplies, a source said.
ITC, a relatively new entrant in the pouch milk market, said "It will ensure continued supply in Kolkata and Bihar despite all challenges."
Those who are facing problems because of the prevailing situation are individual cattle owners whose livelihoods depend on selling milk mostly to sweet shops. They generally take milk to the shops by suburban trains.
With train services suspended due to the lockdown, the cattle owners are facing serious hardships and huge monetary losses.
Tilak Yadav used to take an early morning train from Baruipur in South 24 Pargans district to get down at Garia in the southern fringes of Kolkata to sell his stock. He usually earned between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 daily before the virus outbreak.
But now, the situation has changed for him and his family who have migrated from Bihar.
"It seems we will die of hunger and not of coronavirus, Yadav told PTI.
Triloki Chowdhury, who also hails from Bihar, said the main crisis is procuring cattle feed.
"There is a deep crisis in the availability of cattle feed and we have to buy them at very high prices," he said.
He used to sell around 60 litres per day but with the crisis in cattle feed supply, this has come down.
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