Whether the price of the milk supplied by Milma is hiked or not, the Corporation authorities have stumbled upon an unexpected source of milk, at least for a few days.
Four cows have been tied at the Corporation’s zonal office at Edappally. These cows, seized by the Corporation as per the instructions of the Kerala High Court, together yield nearly 40 litres of milk everyday.
“It was on September 22 that we seized four cows from P F Jacob, a resident of Pavoor Road. The move followed High Court’s instructions on the basis of a petition submitted by Jacob’s neighbour. For breeding more than one cow, the owner should procure licence from the Corporation. But, Jacob did not have the necessary licence. Hence, we took the cows in our custody,” said Corporation health standing committee chairman T K Ashraf. The cows, though, have arrived with their share of headaches for the civic body. The Corporation does not have a pound or pound-keeper. Hence, they were forced to tie the cows on the premises of their zonal office. Two daily workers of the zonal office, Gopi and Surendran have been assigned to feed the animals.
According to junior health inspector of the zonal office, T G Rajendran - a security guard - will look after the cows at night. He said that the civic body has appointed a person to milk the cows in the morning and the milk will be supplied to nearby shops at Rs 25 a litre.
Meanwhile, some local residents alleged that, except for the first two days, the owner Jacob himself had been milking the cows. “We have seen him coming in the wee hours with a man to milk the cows,” said a person from the area. The cows were Jacob’s sole means of livelihood. However, the Corporation authorities refuted the allegations and reiterated that they were taking care of the cows and milking them.
“We will levy the charges for looking after the cows from the owner once they are handed back to them if the Court says so,” said Rajendran. However, division councillor C D Valsalakumari said she had already brought the issue to the notice of the Mayor.
“If the owner is still milking the cow, then it is a violation of the Court’s order. We hope that the Mayor will look into the allegations,” she said.
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