Aurangabad, March 18:
The Aurangabad district co-operative milk producers union has been severely hit by the lockdown announced on Saturday and Sunday. According to the officials, sales of packaged milk has declined by 7,000 liters.
The district milk association is the major milk supplier in the district, that collects an average of 75,000 liters of milk daily. Out of this, 40,000 liters of milk is currently supplied to Mahanand and other organizations. The rest 32,000 to 34,000 liters of packaged milk is sold in and around the city. The rest of the milk is used to make buttermilk, lassi and other dairy products, the union said. The corona crisis and lockdown had a major impact on milk sales last year. The problem of excess milk was exacerbated by high milk collection and low sales. However, the state government relieved the union by purchasing some extra milk. After the unlock, the situation improved and the sale of milk also became normal. But as the coronavirus has re-emerged in the city and surrounding areas over the past few days.
The district administration imposed a partial lockdown from March 11 to April 4 to curb the rising number of patients. The administration has decided to complete lockdown on weekends and put restrictions on hotels and restaurants. This has started affecting milk sales. According to the union, milk sales on weekends have declined mainly due to the severe lockdown. On other days, despite a partial lockdown, milk sales were as usual at 32,000 to 33,000 liters. However, on weekends sales fall by 7,000 liters, the union said. Sources said that they have to bear the financial blow due to the decline in demand for packaged milk sales.