'Milk Blockade' agitation enters day 2

Kolhapur:The 'milk blockade' called by the Raju Shetty-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) entered the second day on Tuesday.

The agitation is getting good response in Sangli and Kolhapur districts, Marathwada and Konkan regions and parts of north Maharashtra, said Mr Shetty, who headed the protest, demanding the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government to give milk farmers a subsidy of Rs five per litre.

The Sangahatana has decided to stop all vehicles carrying milk towards Mumbai and Pune from Tuesday, pressing for their demand of Rs five per liter milk subsidy, to make up for their losses due to the declining milk rates in the open market.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, 18 milk tankers have been dispatched by Kolhapur Milk Producer Federation, known as 'Gokul Dudh', to Mumbai and Pune and there was possibility of 10 more tankers to be dispatched to Mumbai till this afternoon from Gokul Co-operative Milk Dairy, under police protection. 

Milk collection from centers of Gokul Dudh in all parts of the district re-opened early Tuesday morning as usual and started milk collection. While, Gokul Dudh had extended support to the agitation by closing collection of more than 12 lakh litre of  milk on Monday. (UNI)