Being the chief producer of milk in the state with around 32 to 34 lakh litres daily, Chittoor district is able to send the milk to national capital Delhi, thanks to the initiative of Mother dairy and South Central Railway (SCR). In its efforts to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to various parts of the country during the Covid-19 lockdown period, SCR started operating ‘Doodh Duronto’, milk special trains from Renigunta to Hazrat Nizamuddin.
So far, it has operated 207 trips of Doodh Duronto special trains during March 26 to December 17 and reached a significant milestone of transporting five crore litres of milk to New Delhi. Though it was initially operated on alternate days, from July 15 the frequency of the train is increased to run as a daily special.
Also read : 1 crore liters of milk delivered by Doodh Durronto to Delhi from Chittoor during the lockdown
SCR CPRO Ch Rakesh said it took only 37 days for reaching five crore litres from four crores. In view of its importance, SCR has been operating Doodh Duronto special on par with Mail express trains with which a distance of 2,300 km between Renigunta and H Nizamuddin is being covered in 30 hours.
2.40 lakh litres milk per trip
These specials are run with normally six milk tankers, each having a capacity of 40,000 litres thereby transporting around 2.40 lakh litres of milk in each train. SCR GM Gajanan Mallya appreciated the efforts of the staff of Guntakal division and Zonal headquarters in the mobilisation of milk to cater the needs of the nation.
Also read : Doodh Duronto transported 4 crore liters of milk from Chittoor to Delhi
Jayatheertha Chary, CEO of Shreeja Dairy told The Hans India they have tied up with Mother dairy in transporting the milk through SCR. The milk is being procured from bulk milk chilling units in the district as well as in some parts of Anantapur district. This initiative has been helping the farmers also as they could get competitive prices as they find demand.
Had the milk not being exported to Delhi, there would have been huge surplus which may lead to price drop also for the farmers. He added apart from giving competitive prices, they have been giving input services and subsidies to members of Mandal Mahila Samakhyas and ensuring quality feed which will help them in increasing their net earnings.
Source: Dailyhunt, Dec 2020