Sodhra milk chilling plant yet to start functioning
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Sunderbani (Rajouri), May 8
The Sodhra milk chilling plant near here has failed to start functioning even after nine years of its setting up. The local milk producing farmers are now wondering that despite spending lakhs of rupees on the project whether the state government will ever make the plant functional.

In fact, the plant was reported to start operations in 2000 after the machinery was installed in it but nine years on, the state government has failed to make it operational despite having all infrastructure and machinery. The project was to be a joint venture with the Jammu and Kashmir government’s Animal Husbandry Department and the Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers Cooperative Limited (JKMPCL). The plant, which was conceived in early 1990’s having a capacity of 10,000 litres, was to change the destiny of milk-producing farmers of Sunderbani and Nowshera, as they were to get good price for their produce from the local cooperative society having collaboration with the JKMPCL, which was supposed to procure the milk from these farmers, store it in the plant and transfer it to Jammu for selling it in markets there.

“Farmers in Sunderbani and Nowshera produce huge quantity of milk, but the irony is that we don’t get market for our produce. Since milk is perishable commodity, we cannot store it for long”, said Dewan Chand, a local farmer.

“After the plant was ready for operations in 2000, we were expecting that the agency concerned would procure our milk at good prices, but nothing of that sort happened,” the farmer said.

Sources in the Animal Husbandry Department said water scarcity in the area and inability of the cooperative societies to run the plant had delayed the project.

DS Khosla, joint director farms, Animal Husbandry Department, Jammu, said the department was to install the machinery for the project, which they had already done. “We have installed requisite machinery for the project under the integrated dairy development project. It is the JKMPCL which has to start the operations”, he said. “We are awaiting orders for the transfer of the plant to the JKMPCL. Very shortly, the plant would be handed over to the JKMPCL,” he added.

As regards, the scarcity of water being one of the reasons for the delay of the project, Khosla said the Water Supply Department had agreed to supply water for the plant from a well near Sunderbani.

A senior officer of the JKMPCL, on condition of anonymity, said they were facing many problems in making the project operational. “Firstly, we require about 10,000 litres of water for running the project and there is shortage of water in the area. Secondly, the local cooperative society, which has to procure milk from the farmers, too, is defunct”, he said.