Maharashtra dairy farmers spill milk on roads, burn trucks

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, July 16

Striking dairy farmers in Maharashtra who are demanding higher prices set a truck on fire and spilled milk on roads as their strike began on Monday.

According to the state police farmers were stopping trucks transporting milk to Mumbai, Pune and other cities from midnight tonight and were pouring the stock on the road. At Washim in Malegaon, farmers stopped a truck milk truck and set it on fire.  The driver of the vehicle jumped out just before the blaze engulfed his vehicle.

Member of Parliament Raju Shetti, whose Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, called for the indefinite milk strike starting Monday said in a statement that farmers in Western Maharashtra refused to supply milk to dairies as part of the strike. Even Amul, which collects milk from the dairy farmers of Palghar outside Mumbai, did not collect milk as the All India Kisan Sabha joined the strike.

The Maharashtra Government issued a notice to Dr Ajit Navale of AIKS earlier on Monday warning him against participating in the milk strike.

Milk supply to customers in Mumbai was not affected as dairies that keep two days' stock in hand had already supplied retailers. However sources at the private Mahananda dairy said the city could run out of milk if the strike continued for another two days.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government said it was trying to ensure supplies to Mumbai and other cities by bringing in milk from Gujarat and Karnataka. However, the SSS has warned that it would intensify its agitation if the government attempted to break the strike. "The government is giving benefits to dairies, which are controlled by politicians. But no benefits are being given to farmers who are facing the burden of higher costs," Shetti said in a statement here.

 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government was open to negotiating with farmers. "Our doors are always open for discussion. We do not have an egoistic view on this issue," Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur where the monsoon session of the state legislature is on.