Mumbai, July 17: Western Railways has decided to run a special express train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai carrying milk containers to Mumbai city. As per a tweet by Western Railways, for the next few days, containers carrying about 44,000 litres of milk in 12 waggons/containers, will be brought to the city. The move comes following a statewide protest called by the Maharashtra Dairy farmers in a bid to get a good cost for their milk supply.

The outcome of the strike was seen in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Jalgaon and several other parts of Maharashtra on the third consecutive day on Tuesday. The Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana party has called the protest, following which several agitators emptied milk containers on streets.

Here is the tweet of western railways:

As per reports, the strike was called by Shetti along with other dairy farmers after they continued to incure losses and claimed that the government was doing nothing. "The state government has fixed the procurement price of Rs 27 per litre but the farmers get barely Rs 17 per litre. We are demanding a direct subsidy of Rs. 5 per litre to the farmers, as provided in Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. With a drop in the rates of skimmed milk powder, even the milk cooperatives are facing a tough time," said MP Raju Shetti, President of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has disapproved the agitation and stated in the Assembly that milk supply would not be affected. He said that the government has not adopted an "egoistic view" on any issue.

At the same that time, the government has ensured that the supply will not be hampered and stated that milk would be brought from other states, especially neighbouring Gujarat and Karnataka, so as to ensure uninterrupted milk supply.

Farmer leaders have now said that they will start a 'Satyagraha' and ensure that no milk is brought from outside if their demands are not fulfilled on time.

Ajit Nawale of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha has also warned the state that if the state government fails to fulfil their demands, their agitation would intensify.

In Mumbai, around 55 lakh milk pouches are sold on an average in a day. The Gujarat-based Milk firm Amul has the highest market share of about 30 percent, followed by Kolhapur-based Gokul.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2018 05:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).