Difficulties in transporting milk due to road blockage

Rural roads have not been opened for weeks. Not only on the rural roads, but also on the Kaligand corridor leading here, vehicles have not been able to ply. After the landslide in Ward No. 5 and the fall of Ajang stone in Ward No. 1, the road is blocked. Apart from that, the landslide at Dablyang of Baglung Municipality 10 has also affected the public road.

After these roads were blocked, the farmers of Kaligand's milk producer cooperatives have not been able to send milk to the market. Krishna Prasad Lamichhane, chairman of the cooperative, said that he was able to send the vehicle to Pokhara only after carrying it to the mountain headquarters, Kushma, after the vehicle stopped moving. Farmers in rural areas carry it even to Kushmisera market. Raghunath Poudel of Jaimini Municipality 8 said that there is a danger of milk spoilage if it is not delivered on time. "I used to send 50 to 60 liters of milk to the headquarters daily," said Paudel, "sometimes it is broken at home after the road is blocked, sometimes we are forced to carry it."

None of the roads coming from Chhisti of Ward 8 to the headquarters through the corridor are in regular operation. He complained that the cost of transportation was doubled even when it was sent through Falewas of the mountain. This problem has also happened to the farmers of Baglung Municipality 12 Amlachaur. "A chilling vat is needed to collect and preserve milk in the village," said local Muktiram Acharya. Farmers have to suffer more losses due to not being able to transport on time.

The farmers of Dhamja of Kathekhola Rural Municipality 3, Lekhani of Ward 8 and other places have also experienced this suffering. The farmers of Tarakhola rural municipality 1 Sile village are suffering even more. They have not been able to take milk to the market because the road is difficult. Pramanand Gautam, a local, complained that the farmers rearing buffaloes of 'Lime' and 'Parakote' breeds could not sell their milk due to road problems. "Since there are no roads, farmers have been producing ghee at home, but there is no profit in ghee like selling milk," said Gautam, "cash in the hands of farmers is from milk." He said that there is no profit compared to the effort required to make ghee.

After the onset of rains, the roads of Madhyapahari Lokmarg are also being blocked from time to time. The head of the Veterinary Hospital and Animal Expert Center, Baglung, Dr. Rishiram Sapkota said. "We have tried to support the marketing of farmers' products, but we could not provide chilling vats everywhere," said Sapkota, "the municipalities should be active in making roads easier." He said. He said that if the local level can manage one chilling vat in the municipality center, it will help in marketing the farmers' produce.

Chairman Raju Thapa said that the Kathekhola Rural Municipality plans to support the chilling vat at the place where farmers' milk is collected. Other municipalities said that they have not made immediate plans. "We have given subsidy for milk production, we can think about making chilling vats if necessary," said Harihar Sharma, Deputy Head of Jaimini Municipality, "We will take initiatives to increase farmers' production, market it and support them in income generation."

According to the data of Baglung Milk Producer Cooperative Association, 4000 liters of milk from Kathekhola alone reaches the headquarters. According to the center, 25,000 metric tons of milk is being produced annually when the production of all the villages of Baglung is lumped together.