Puducherry government seeks Tamil Nadu's help to tackle milk crisis

Puducherry minister M Kandasamy called on Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Minister K T Rajenthra Balaji at Chennai on Thursday seeking supply of milk to the union territory to tackle its current milk crisis.

A release said Kandasamy, who is a welfare minister, urged the Tamil Nadu minister to supply 55,000 Litres of milk daily to Puducherry which has been facing a shortfall to meet demands of various categories of consumers.

According to the release, Rajenthra Balaji told Kandasamy that he would consider the plea. Official sources said Pondicherry needs more than a lakh liter of milk every day and production has come down necessitating the territorial administration to approach the neighbouring State to get 55,000-litre milk every day.

With the fall in size of lands under cultivation because of virtually fast conversion of agricultural land into residential plots and industrial zones, the availability of fodder has declined, a spokesman of the Dairy Farmers Association said.