- Milk adulteration in city on rise
- Farmers & cooperative-societies involved in adulteration
- Adulteration carried out in late night hours
- Locals aware of adulterated milk
Richeek Mishra
Agra. India, it is said was flooded with milk during Lord Krishna's time. The situation could have perhaps improved with White Revolution. But alas! such things do not happen anymore. The proverbial river of milk does flow but its adulterated just like the river Yamuna in Agra. Now, the milkmen are supplying adulterated milk in the city. All are quite aware of the fact that the milk supplied to the local restaurants, houses and small tea shops is impure. Not only this, milkmen from rural areas are hand in gloves with farmers and cooperative-societies.
After hearing about the adulterated milk supply in the city, DLA am reporter tracked down the places from where the milk is sourced.Milk, delivered at homes, may not be that pure as told by the doctors and grandma to drink regularly. The vehicles in which the milk is transported is assembled locally at major market of transporters in the city. Jugaad is a common mode of transport used in Agra region. This local talent has infact further facilitated the adulteration of milk while it is being transported.
A milkman Ramdeen (name changed) resident of Umethra village from Baah told us that, "sahab main to sahi doodh lata hun, par ye sahkari sanstha walen hamara paisa kha jate hain, aur hame phir usme thoda bahut to dekhna hi padta hain" (I bring the pure milk, but I am cheated by cooperative societies which do not my full payment. that is why to compensate that I am compelled to..). He further told that many other milkmen also adulterate the milk with dirty water and sometimes they even use chemicals to make the milk more thick. At several villages around Agra, Fatehabad, Baah, Sikandra and Fatehpur Sikri, milk is being openly adulterated. DLA am tried to discuss with some milkmen. They told that the material is available in all the small towns.
Talking to DLA am, a small tea vender at Delhi Gate said that these milkmen are involved in adulteration of milk. First of all they add water and then to make the milk thick they use some chemicals. He further said that milk is adulterated at all the places and people know how to do it. "The harmful chemicals and material adulterated in milk cannot be detected by lactomter also," said Municipal Health Officer Dr. JP Gupta. He further said that harmful substances like caustic soda, refined oil, cutting oil, fat extracted from flesh, urea and glucose are a part of the endless list that are used to adulterate milk. The process begins in the late night hours and is over by the time the milk vans arrive in the morning.
Here's the procedure
In the begning, some fresh and pure milk is mixed with liquid that is used to wash fabrics. Followed by a dose of cutting oil. The mixture is then put aside for half-an-hour after which water is added according to the requirement. Soon, the synthetic milk is ready. Each village in the Agra and nearby regions produces around 300 litres of such milk daily, which is transported through vans. This milk is not transported in the regular aluminium cans but instead it is brought in plastic drums to the nearby chilling plants. There are dozens of such chilling units in Agra. This spurious milk is then sourced by various dairies and distributed in city and towns. It's a nexus where everyone except the consumer is benefited. The people involved in this process know that the dairy officials are aware of the adulteration. They get a profit of Rs 3-5 per litre. The cost of pure milk in the city varies between Rs. 14 to 25. For many, milk is healthy, nutritious and an energetic food but not anymore.
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