PUDUKKOTTAI: As of Tuesday, it is all work and no tea at Keeramangalam in Pudukkottai. The recent directive by the district dairy development department to put a cap of 10% on local sale of dairy products produced by Aavin-associated milk societies have put the teashop owners in a fix.
As a result, over 40 teashops in Keeramangalam town panchayat, Pudukkottai, have discontinued from brewing tea as of Tuesday. On 9 December, the dairy development department of Pudukkottai directed the Aavin-associated milk societies in selected areas of Pudukkottai not to sell dairy products beyond a 10% limit within the area of production.
Earlier, 70% of dairy products manufactured in Keeramangalam could be sold locally. M S Selvaraj, a teashop owner from Keeramangalam, said, “I have been running a teashop here for 53 years; we have never used packet milks, relying solely on fresh milk supplied by the societies. Hence, we have no plans to adopt packet milk over what is supplied through societies.”
A district-level official of the dairy development department said, “Standardisation of milk accords with food safety regulations. We limited local supply of unprocessed milk from societies to 10% to avert possible lamentable situations where people fall sick after consuming loose milk.”
