The protest over higher milk procurement prices for farmers, launched by MP Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) entered its second day on Tuesday, affecting Pune city.
A few milk tankers entered Mumbai from western Maharashtra under heavy police escort, but Pune city felt the pinch 48 hours after the blockade was launched Sunday midnight.
Overall, fresh milk procurement figures across western Maharashtra saw a precarious dip, with Pune region managing barely 15% of its average daily procurement of nearly 70 lakh litres.
At several points, SSS workers were seen blocking tankers and vans entering Pune.
“We achieved our distribution target (4 lakh litres) today in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad owing to the police shield but our collection rate has fallen by 40%. While the picture for the next 24 hours is unclear, the intensification of the agitation is bound to cause distribution problems,” said Shrikrishna Chitale, partner, Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale.
Despite police protection, dairy owners fear that the city could soon face a full-blown crisis unless the impasse between the SSS and the State government was resolved soon.
The protest received overwhelming support across Kolhapur and Sangli districts – the epicenter of the SSS agitation.
Sources at the Chitale Dairy in Bhilwadi in Sangli said that the agitation had nearly brought milk procurement operations in the district to a standstill, while Gokul Dairy officials suspended procurement operations in Kolhapur.
Meanwhile, Activists damaged seven tankers in Udgaon, a group of farmers bathed themselves in milk in Shirdhon village in Kolhapur and milk flowed on streets in the Marathwada region.
In Pali in Beed district, a tanker with a capacity of 20,000 litres was emptied, while in Pasodi village buckets were emptied.
An ‘Amul’ milk tanker was turned back in Palghar district by SSS activists, led by Mr. Shetti himself who camped along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border during the day.
“We have allowed no tanker along Ahmedabad highway to enter Mumbai. The SSS has always been friendly with Amul but we will oppose them tooth and nail if they try to meddle with the agitation,” Mr. Shetti said.
Mr. Shetti also dismissed Dairy Development Minister Mahadev Jankar’s calls for negotiation, saying no formal invitation had been sent by the government.
Dismissing Dairy Development Minister Mahadev Jankar's calls for negotiation, Mr. Shetti said that he had not received any formal invitation from the government on the issue.
On the incidents of tanker vandalism and wastage of milk on part of his activists, Mr. Shetti said: “I am not for violence. But these incidents are taking place because in spite of excess production, the State government is procuring milk from neighbouring states. This agitation is the legitimate anger of milk farmers across Maharashtra, not merely that of the SSS.”
Mr. Shetti denied that the agitation was a ploy to stay politically relevant before the 2019 Parliamentary and Assembly elections.
"I have no political ambition behind launching this agitation...There is no question of me returning to the NDA fold. I have severed ties with BJP precisely because of its apathy towards farmers...," he said.
