The dairy industry in the State is facing a peculiar situation following the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Though there are no constraints faced in respect of production and ensuring supply of milk, the industry is finding it difficult to dispatch the products to all the localities, especially gated communities, where people are not allowing the delivery boys into their premises.
Consumption
The State’s consumption of milk is pegged around 68 lakh litres a day of which the HMDA area accounts for almost half, over 30 lakh litres.
Police sensitised
There are 10 major dairies engaged in production and supply of milk with three major brands - Heritage, Vijaya and Jersey - catering to a major chunk of the demand.
Interestingly, it was the police who stopped the delivery boys from reaching their destinations initially, but they had been sensitised since and are allowing milk vans, forming part of essential commodities, freely.
The industry is said to be faced with difficulty in reaching out its products as residents and residential welfare associations are not allowing the delivery boys inside.
Coupled with this, the elderly vendors who sell milk sachets in different parts of the twin cities are preferring to stay at home following the advisory given by the government from time to time.
Stable demand
“The problem now is with last mile connectivity. There is a general fear in society about the impact of the virus. There was spurt in the demand during the first two days, but the demand remained stable ever since,” Telangana State Dairy Development Cooperative Federation managing director G. Srinivas Rao told The Hindu .
The demand had in fact come down in the past couple of days.
“There is a drop in demand of 3 lakh litres yesterday and another 2.5 lakh litres today. We will get a trend in the next two days,” he said.
Meeting with Talasani
Representatives of the dairy industry conferred at a meeting chaired by Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav on Saturday where the prevailing situation was discussed threadbare.
The meeting had resolved to ensure that there should not be any price rise now and the industry had been strictly advised against increasing the MRP. It was also decided to form vigilance teams with officials at different levels to monitor the situation and keep a watch on the price situation.
