Kathmandu, April 22 : The Nepal Dairy Association (NDA) has said it is facing obstructions in the transportation and distribution of milk and other dairy products in the ongoing national lockdown period. The very lockdown was announced on March 24 by the government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The government is supposed to permit the vehicles carrying daily essentials (like milk) to run on the roads during the lockdown. However, it has not so far permitted the trucks and vans transporting milk to do the same,” Prahlad Dahal, general secretary of the NDA, lamented adding,” As such, the dairy companies are not being able to supply and distribute their products in Chitwan, Butwal and Nepalgunj, among other cities.”
Similarly, it is said that not only the vehicles carrying milk have been stopped but also the related workers of such vehicles are being beaten by the police personnel. In New Road, Koteshwor and other places in Kathmandu, such incidents have taken place according to Dahal.
Only 20 per cent of the total milk and milk products is being sold daily at present. He added that the dairy industry has incurred the losses of Rs 2 billion due to the lockdown. The milk and dairy products worth Rs 5 billion are currently in stock.
Meanwhile, the dairy companies have started distributing milk free of cost after a slump in its sale due to the lockdown.
The NDA says that they have started providing milk free of cost rather than dumping it. It is said that the milk is being distributed free to the people who are placed at various quarantine facilities and also to the needy households.
