Tirupati: Doodh Duronto transports 7-cr litre milk to Delhi

Tirupati: Chittoor being one of the leading milk producing district, has transported 7 crore litres of milk from Renigunta junction to New Delhi in the current financial year. Through the dedicated Doodh Duronto specials which the South Central Railway has been operating on a daily basis since July 15, the milk is being transported to meet the increasing demand.

This was the highest ever transportation of milk since its commencement in 2011-12. It may be recalled that initially the milk tankers were attached to regular superfast trains to serve the purpose on a regular basis. Thus, around 2-3 litres of milk could be transported in each financial year which has gone up to 4.4 crore litres in 2019-20 as the demand for milk surged. The Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020 proved to be a challenge for the authorities to transport the milk as all passenger trains were stopped. Following the directives of the General Manager Gajanan Mallya, Guntakal division officials swung into action with an alternative mode of transporting the milk exclusively by running special trains namely 'Doodh Duronto'.

These were operated initially on every alternative day from March 26, 2020 but to meet the ever increasing demand it became a daily special and continuing till now, said the Chief Public Relations Officer Ch Rakesh. He added that Doodh Duronto special was being operated on par with Mail express trains and the 2,300 km distance between Renigunta and Hazarat Nizamuddin is covered within a short time of 30 hours.

These specials are run normally with six milk tankers each having a capacity of 40,000 litres totalling 2.40 lakh litres of milk in a train. So far, around 296 trips of Doodh Duronto specials have been operated with 1,753 milk tankers duly transporting seven crore litres of milk. The General Manager has appreciated the staff and officers of Guntakal division and zonal headquarters for their consistent efforts in mobilising milk to cater the needs of the nation.