Aarey falls bit by bit: No money for repairs

As second floor slab came down at Worli dairy, loss-making unit needs repairs worth crores -- another of the dairy's many tribulations other than encroachment, sagging production, loss of consumers, abrasion of revenue and more

As second floor slab came down at Worli dairy, loss-making unit needs repairs worth croresu00a0-- another of the dairy's many tribulations other than encroachment, sagging production, loss of consumers, abrasion of revenue and moreu00a0

The loss-making government dairy, Aarey, has been flanked by a variety of problems in the recent past. Now, crumbling infrastructure is the latest entrant to that long list. After allegations in March last year that the Ashok Chavan government had leased over a 1,000 stalls to private players at a throwaway rate of Rs 7 per day, news of its cow milk supply drying up and consumers abandoning the loss-making unit, a slew of slow measures to revive the unit have been futile. Now, it is the building's fa ade that is threatening to crumble.

Threatening to crumble: The cracks in the facade of the Aarey Dairy
building at Worli Sea Face. (Below) The machinery in the dairy is not
properly maintained and is underutilised, say officials, leading to poor
output. Pics/Santosh Nagwekar

The Aarey Dairy at Worli Sea Face has become a no-go zone for visitors, school students and collegians because of the crumbling state it is in. An internal circular stating that no visitors are allowed into the building has been issued, and has been effective since April 1. The massive structure, an iconic landmark on the Sea Face stretch, is dilapidated. In fact, it is perilous for the dairy's thousand-odd staff to work inside the building.

Shirish Virkar, general manager, Worli dairy, said, "Recently, a huge portion of the slab fell down, and it was decided in public interest that the dairy should stop allowing visitors and school students inside, as it would be risky." Academic institutions frequently take students on study tours to the venue.

Funds crunch
The upkeep entails expenses of a few crores, but sanction for the funds has been caught up in the bureaucratic nexus. R D Shinde, dairy development commissioner, confirmed that the dairy and even staff quarters are in ruins and need urgent repairs. "We at least require a few crores for carrying out major structural repairs in the dairy building and residential quarters for the staff. The State Dairy Minister Madhukar Chavan also inspected the dairy few weeks ago and has spoken to the finance department seeking immediate financial assistance."u00a0 But the procedure will take time, sources revealed. Officials further added that the dairy already owes overu00a0 Rs 2.5 crore to the Public Works Department, the agency that carried out earlier civil works for Goregaon, Kurla and Worli dairies. Unless the department is paid, it does not want to take up any new work.

"A portion of canopies covering the dairy collapsed a year and half ago. PWD officials, with the help of a reputed technical institute, conducted a survey and suggested that the presence of seawater and salty air has eroded the plaster and iron supports. Hence the structure cannot bear the load of canopies," said another dairy official. "As a temporary measure, wooden support has been provided to prevent any mishap. The PWD had quoted around Rs 50 lakh for removing the canopy, but due to funds crunch the suggestion has been put on hold." Spread over 13 hectares of prime land in the city, officials from the unit say that the government must step in to preserve it or the unit will serve as an example of the adage - no use crying over spilt milk.u00a0

Virkar added, "We are hopeful that the government would intervene and would at least start the repair works before the start of the monsoon." If the buzz among ground level distributors and transporters of Aarey milk has to be believed, the closure of the dairy might mean megabucks because several parties are eyeing the sprawling Aarey plots at Kurla, Goregaon and, most importantly. Worli Sea Face. Senior political leaders and Mantralaya officials are downplaying the issue stating that they have chalked out a mission document for the dairy, which would help sort out all issues.

Illegal shanties
As it fights to prop up its degenerating structure, the dairy's land meanwhile is being gobbled up and sold off by slum dwellers that have taken it over. Shanties and hutments have sprung up inside the sprawling Aarey Dairy complex and the encroachment shows no signs of abating. The land needs to be fenced off to prevent hutments, but since this has not been done, more prime property is being taken over by squatters.

The dairy campus provides shelter to Class III officers and 63 families, and accommodates another 530 dairy employees. However, an open plot of approximate 800 sq m, reserved for the extension of the milk distribution depot, has been getting encroached since 1981. Today most shanty owners have either rented out their houses for Rs 5,000 or sold them for Rs 7,000 per sq feet, even though the land actually belongs to the government. "We have made several complaints but no action is taken," said a dairy official.

Shortage persists
The dairy's old woes haven't gone anywhere. Lakhs of Mumbaikars used to quaffing the dairy's cow milk are struggling to find their brand as the milk is drying up, thanks to the spiralling procurement costs incurred by the dairy giant. Also, the plant and machineries have not been upgraded and the production capacity has been underutilised for years, sources from the dairy said. The daily distribution of Aarey milk was 1.30 lakh litres per day until last year. But the supply has now waned to 70,000 litres per day, which is unheard of in the dairy's 45-year history. People are compelled to switch to other brands for cow milk. If this continues, the supply of Aarey cow milk will come down further."u00a0u00a0

Shinde confirmed that there was indeed a significant dip in the supply of cow milk. He blames excess staff and underused machinery. "We have machines with a capacity to milk 12.5 lakh litres. We achieved this target in days when there was no private player. Today, these machines are underutilised. Moreover, private players give better commission and kickbacks to distributors and agents. Also, a major portion of the dairy's revenue goes in paying staff salary as per the Sixth Pay Commission, while private players follow the minimum wages norms."

Save Aarey
In order to salvage the flagging profits of the ailing unit, which threatens to render thousands of workers jobless, the government has conceived a cooperative selling pattern for the dairy. Last week, the state government agreed to allow the distributors and transporters of Aarey milk, who have been associated with the dairy for the last 40 years, to form their own co-operative sector for procuring milk for the dairy. This will allow the dairy to make optimum use of its infrastructure and allow the cooperative members to continue marketing Aarey milk and products.

Ram Kadam, a distributor who is now the chairman of Arrey Vitrak Seva Sahakari Limited, the recently-formed cooperative group, said, "Over the past decades, city's population has kept increasing, but the government did not do anything to meet the demand. The loyal customers were forced to switch over to either other brands or loose milk. Over 2,500 families of distributors and 2,000 families of workers are dependent on Aarey. If the dairy continues to run as a sick unit, all of us will be on the road and hence this co-operative moment."

"We will procure milk at a competitive price. Aarey will process the same and we will sell it in the 1,800 Aarey stalls across the city, with a government-fixed MRP. We have got consent from the workers' union as well. We won't allow the dairy to die," said Kadam.

Checklist
MiD DAY reviews the plans to revive Aarey, announced last year under the supervision of former dairy minister Dr Nitin Raut. Experts had proposed to implement plans for the holistic development and monitoring of the dairy product sector in the state. Raut said, "We have submitted our vision document to the Cabinet and the process is on."

Some highlights of the plan include:
Setting up a regulatory authority: To monitor quality and price of milk and other products. Also stringent penal action will be initiated against those who indulge in adulteration of milk. This has been implemented.

Enact a law to strengthen the dairy sector:u00a0 A state level regulatory will be created by an enactment, which will oversee different aspects of the dairy development ranging from price fixing of milk and milk product and will govern all district dairy development officers. Private and Co-operative milk dairies will be under the control of regulatory authority. The authority will have powers for establishing standards and giving approval to new dairy project and project implementation. This has not been implemented.

Encourage and revive milk procurement system: at village level, the process will streamline production system and cut wastage. This has not been implemented.

Protecting the interest of milk producers: The government will announce minimum support price for milk and milk products from time to time, technical and financial support to be given to milk producers.u00a0 Implemented