Shocking hygiene failings discovered in dairy colonies

A Delhi High Court-appointed court commissioner, tasked with inspecting nine dairy colonies in the city, has found egregious violation of norms, including poor hygienic conditions, overcrowding with very little space for the cattle to move, and poor health of the milch animals.

The inspection report, which was submitted to the court last week, found several common issues such as the presence of solid waste overflowing from open drains at each colony.

Court commissioner advocate Gauri Puri, following a High Court order, carried out inspection at the colonies in Ghazipur, Shahbad (Rohini), Jharoda, Bhalaswa, Masoodpur, Goela, Madanpur Khadar, Nangli Sakrawati, and Kakrola. The court commissioner found solid waste on the road and inside the colonies. She also found milk containers in the units kept next to solid and wet waste of the cattle. Some of them were even kept “open, exposed to dust, flies and bovine dung odour”.

The inspection also revealed that calves were tied separately from their mothers and that most of them appeared to be losing hair which was indicative of skin infections. “Ropes around the neck of the cattle and calves were tied tightly which restricted their movement,” the report added.

“Animals appeared to be tied all day and night without any exposure to sunlight (which was the primary cause for skin infections), hard floor surface which caused bruises/sore wounds on the legs of the buffaloes/cows, the soft carpets used were old and dirty and were filled with cow dung which made it very slippery for the animals,” the report stated.

Norms flouted

The court commissioner highlighted that “some dairy owners and caretakers therein admitted to injecting a medicine (from transparent plastic white bottles) into the animals to increase milk production”. The report said the usage of the substance (purported to be oxytocin) to increase milk in the cows or buffaloes was in contravention of Sections 11(1-C) and 12 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Notably, no dairy owner had any licence issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Majority of the units visited by the court commissioner did not have a licence issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The licences were to be issued on a yearly basis and upon an inspection of the premises.

Taking a grim view of the report, which also stated that the extraction of milk, twice a day, was done using injections of an unidentified transparent liquid, a Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula ordered the authorities to ensure that the dairies are compliant with the norms.

The court, in its July 12 order, ordered the local authorities to submit an action-taken report within three months.