Amid the celebration of the festival of lights, there is cause for concern as production and supply of synthetic or adulterated milk and milk products is getting bigger by the day.
The manufacturers, who are not only selling the milk to the unaware city dwellers but also transporting it to the neighbouring states, are minting money by endangering the health and lives of hundreds. The racket continues to flourish despite a number of raids by health officials.
According to an estimate, at least 100,000 litres of synthetic milk and 30 tonnes of thickened milk (khoya) is manufactured daily in the city. The racketeers use refined oil, white poster colours, minimum amount of milk, caustic soda and formalin as solvent to manufacture the poisonous ‘milk’. They also use low-quality refined oil, wheat flour, rice bran and chemical colours to give the products an attractive look.
Chief Medical Officer Subodh Tiwari says, “Last month, we arrested 17 people indulged in illegal milk manufacturing and imprisoned 12 of them but if another case is brought to our notice, we will take prompt action.”
Artificial milk, extremely dangerous to health, can be detected as it does not curdle on pouring lemon juice, he said.
A little over 400,000 litres of milk is provided by the dairies in the city and 300,000 litres of milk is brought in by milkmen from adjoining areas of Kannauj, Auraiya, Bilhaur and Akbarpur. The total production, thus, of 700,000 litres is 100,000 litres less than the daily demand.
It is this gap in demand-supply that illegal milk-makers vie for, as it fetches an impressive profit margin of more than 200 per cent due to its low production cost. According to dairy specialist S K Vaishya, the short supply is usually made up for by mixing water with milk but as the demand in the festive season is too high, milkmen are resorting to making synthetic milk.
Though the practice is prevalent at Sewan in Bihar, Azamgarh and Lucknow, the city is a prime centre for adulteration of milk. Traders and agents from neighbouring states have put up their camps in the markets of Shuklaganj, Barra, and Chakeri to tap the spurt in demand in their respective regions. Products are being made on orders from distant places. The products bought in bulk are transported by private vehicles through a well-established network of agents.