Fresh milk delivered at your doorstep, minus any polluting plastic pouches. In a nod to environment conservation, the state animal husbandry department has decided to deliver fresh milk to households every morning through insulated tanks that will dispense half a litre at the press of a button, and would cost a rupee less than the milk available in plastic packets. Named “mobile milk dispensing system”, the milk carrying tanks would be mounted on rickshaws and handed over to delivery staff who will sell it, while going from one locality to another in about a month. Initially, the plan would be implemented in three cities — Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad. If it proves a success, the scheme would be replicated in other cities as well. The department floated a tender today inviting firms to supply tanks. “We have invited tenders from interested manufacturers and authorised dealers to supply us the insulated fibreglass reinforced plastic tanks to carry fresh milk. We would be getting as many as 50 tanks, each of 200 litre capacity, to launch our scheme,” said Mukul Prasad Singh, assistant director the animal husbandry (dairy) department. The new milk delivery plan is expected to cost the animal husbandry department Rs 50 lakh. Though a similar scheme has been adopted by the Delhi government for delivery of Mother Dairy milk, in Jharkhand, it is a first. The animal husbandry department has its milk processing and packaging units in Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad, where fresh milk collected from farmers is first processed. The milk meant for sale door-to-door would be filled in insulated tanks, while the rest would be packaged in polybags. The tanks, which will keep the milk cool for up to eight hours, would be completely tamper-proof. They would be fitted with a button, upon pressing which, half a litre of milk would be dispensed at a time, eliminating the need to measure for every delivery. And no one is complaining. “The new plan of the animal husbandry department is welcome. We want fresh milk and if we get it at our doorstep, the department should be praised,” said Anupama Singh, a Ranchi housewife. In the state capital, the department has its processing and packaging unit at Ormanjhi, about 15km away from the city. It processes about 40,000 litres of milk everyday, which is packed under the Medha Dairy label in polybags and sold in the market. Besides doing away with polythene pouches gradually, the fresh milk will cost less — by Re 1 per litre in comparison to packaged milk. “Apart from saving the environment from plastic pollution, this new plan of ours will also provide job opportunities to youths who will be hired as delivery personnel,” said Singh, adding that the plan would become effective in a month. Jharkhand produces only about 15 lakh metric tonnes of milk per annum as against a requirement of 25 lakh metric tonnes. Do you think all retailers should do away with pouches?Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com