Tanahun, October 3:

Damauli saw a shortage of milk and curd this Dashain following an unexpected surge in demand, dairy entrepreneurs said today.

While 1500 to 1600 litres of milk hit the market every day, the daily demand for milk crossed over 2,500 litres in Damauli, the entrepreneurs said.

Consumers, who went to dairy sales depots at 7:00 am to buy milk and curd, were compelled to return empty- handed due to the shortage of the dairy products.

The Tanahun District Dairy Entrepreneurs’ Association and the Belbas Dairy Industry (BDI) said they were distributing 1,200 litres and 400 litres of milk every day.

We could not meet the demand for milk and curd as the demand surged unexpectedly surged during Dashain, said the head of the sales depot of the BDI, Surya Prasad Bhattarai.

Admitting that dairy entrepreneurs had been unable to meet the surging demand for milk and curd since Fulpati, the seventh day of Dashain, he said: “Every day, we supplied 400 liters of milk, 50 liters of curd, 30/40 kg of Paneer and ice cream. The industry delivered its products through six sales depots, he said.

The storekeeper of the Tanahun District Dairy Producers’ Cooperatives Krishna Raj Timilsina said the supplies remained short though 1,200 litres of milk, 200 liters of curd and Paneer and ice cream were delivered. The demand for curd exceeded the demand for milk. As festive foods consist mostly of oily items, the demands for curd is natural, the entrepreneurs said.

Due to the shortage of dairy products, the entrepreneurs are opening their sales outlets for two hours each in the morning and in the evening. As our products are sold in no time, we cannot keep ourselves busy for the whole day, said Bhattarai, the chief of the sales depot of the BDI.