Mumbai: The BMC plans to issue notices to the 263 cattle sheds in Mumbai in a bid to enforce existing rules and make the city cattle free. Dairy owners in the buffalo milk business, however, fear they will have to shut shop if they are asked to relocate to Palghar, as per the plan.
The city has 263 cattle sheds of which 59 are licensed. These sheds have a total 9,959 cattle housed in them.Officials said ward officers are likely to issue the notices. A BMC official said the state animal husbandry department has approached them to assist in removing cattle sheds from Mumbai and rehabilitate them at Dapchari in Palghar.
“After the animal husbandry department approached the BMC, a survey was done to ascertain the number of cattle sheds in Mumbai. Most are on collector land while some are on private land. However, cattle sheds in Aarey Colony would be exempted from this,” said a BMC official. He added that in consultation with the legal department a notice is being drafted as there has been resistance from cattle sheds against the move in the past.
The Govt of Maharashtra has already barred entry of cattle in Mumbai city under the Maharashtra Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Urban Areas (Control) Act, 1976, but the rule has never been enforced. The act also provides for licensing and regulation, but many cattle sheds in the city are unlicensed.
Civic data shows that of the 263 cattle sheds, the maximum—32—are in P South ward which includes Goregaon. All 32 are licensed. Total number of cattle in these sheds is 2,224. In addition, areas of P East which includes Dindoshi and Kurar in Malad, have 28 unlicensed and six licensed sheds. Other wards with cattle sheds include R South which includes Kandivali with 24 unlicensed sheds and R Central (Borivali) with 13 sheds.
Dairy owners who own these sheds say they will be forced to shut shop if they are relocated outside Mumbai. Dapchari in Dahanu taluka of Palghar is nearly four hours from Mumbai. Tribhuvan Sharma who owns a shed in Goregaon East said BMC enumerators surveyed his establishment a few days ago. “It will be a big blow to us if we are relocated to Palghar. We’ll have to close down. How can we despatch fresh milk to regular customers in Mumbai? It involves three hours travel, plus packaging and logistics will take an hour or two. Will milk remain fresh for five hours without refrigeration? Already, given the high cost of buffalo milk (Rs 95-100 per litre), we have only a few loyal customers left,” he said.
Refrigeration, storage and vans will be required to transport milk to Mumbai, but that will call for investments which dairy owners say is impractical given the scale of their business. Sharma said there were robust cattle sheds operating in Aarey Milk Colony. “Why do the authorities not relocate us there? They can allot space on lease on rental basis,” he said.The Bombay Milk Producers Association has approached the BMC for a resolution. Its president C K Singh said, “There was a time when, excluding Aarey Milk Colony, there were 90,000 buffaloes in Mumbai. Now there are barely 9,000. If the govt does want to shift them out, they should install proper units and infrastructure at the new site so that dairies do not suffer loss of business.”
Singh said, “Dairy business is family-run. Now as joint families give way to nuclear families, the younger generation is not interested in continuing. They will prefer to continue living in their chawl room in Parel even if they are offered a one-room flat in Virar. Mumbai is accessible, our customers are fixed — outside we will face many challenges.”
