No Aarey Milk for Mumbai second time in a 2 weeks due to farmers' row

The farmers agitation has resulted in empty milk crates across the cityFor the second time in a fortnight Mumbaikars will get no Aarey Milk Hours after a milk tanker was set ablaze by agitating farmers in the wee hours of Monday in Ahmednagar milk supply has dried up Aarey Milks major supplier the Aurangabad Regional Dairy saw a dip of over 50 per cent in the daily collection of milk due to the farmers bandh To add to that supply to the city will be further delayed as the milk tankers will be escorted by the police from Aurangabad as well as during the distribution rounds across MumbaiDip in supplyNormally the Aurangabad dairy collects 35000 litres of milk every day which is sent to Aarey dairy 25000 litres and Pune 10000 litres However on Monday evening the collection was merely 17000 litres All of this has been sent to Mumbai while Pune will only receive milk that is collected later if anyIn pictures Maharashtra farmers go on strike 5 developmentsPP Mohod Regional Dairy Development Officer RDDO Aurangabad confirmed The farmers agitation has affected the supply of milk to our dairy by 50 We have received only 17000 litres of milk and will therefore be sending a short supply of milk to Aarey late on Monday night for distribution on Tuesday morningDont bother heading out to buy Aarey Milk today there will be no supply anywhere in the city today File PicPrasad Narvekar an Aarey distributor said We received intimation from the Aarey dairy around 830 pm on Monday stating that milk will be supplied only to government hospitals and jails on Tuesday morningAnother distributor warned that empty milk crates might become a common sight if the farmers agitation is not called off and if the state government does not increase the price it pays to dairy farmers for milk midday had reported on this price war on May 22 the last time the city went without Aarey Milk because the farmers refused to supply milk to Aarey for Rs 5 less per litre than what private players are paying Currently the government pays Rs 24 per litre while private firms pay Rs 29ndashRs 30 per litre The state is supposed to announce a price hike on June 20Police escortAs of now the main concern is preventing any untoward incident said Mohod adding After the arson incident we have decided to go strictly by the polices advice If the police advise not to venture out we wont take any risks The cops are providing escorts for our tankers from Aurangabad to MumbaiWhile this will help keep the tanker drivers and distributors safe it will also mean that milk supply will be delayed as the tankers move from one police jurisdiction to another At each location the tankers will have to wait for the local police escort team to join themTD Kulkarni general manager of the Aarey dairy at Worli said Our priority will continue to be supplying to hospitals and government institutions On Sunday we had managed to get 25000 litres of milk We will have to check the stock in hand and the number of tankers that arrive on Monday night before planning the distribution for TuesdayHospitals prepareMeanwhile BMCrun hospitals are making arrangements in case their milk supply dries up in the coming days A dietician at one of the hospitals said Newborns can be given mothers milk while children above one year will be fed lactogen as an alternative For making tea six litres of milk is sufficient which can be still managed with tetra packs from the marketIf the vegetable supply is affected we will have to rely on sprouts rich in protein Nondiabetic patients can be given potato the dietician added