The 21-day lockdown has dealt a blow to the milkmen across the district who are trying to grapple with the higher prices and scarcity of fodder and a drop in demand for milk.

If the situation doesn’t improve, around 5,000 milkmen will have no option other than leaving their cows and buffaloes on the streets.

Nasim Gaddi, 32, a milkman of Jharia, said, “Our forefathers had arrived in Jharia from Himachal Pradesh during the early 20th century. We have been in this business for several generations. I have been independently handling the business after the death of my father 10 years ago, but things were never so bad.”

The temporary closure of sweet shops, restaurants and tea stalls have led to a slump in demand. “Customers who used to visit our cowshed to buy milk have stopped coming because of the lockdown. Households where we used to deliver milk are refusing to take it over coronavirus fear,” Gaddi said.

Gaddi said more than 70 per cent of the total production of 100 litres of milk per day in his cowshed was supplied to sweets shops near Jharia taxi stand. “But all of them are closed now and all this milk is being wasted,” Gaddi said.

Ranjan Yadav, 28, a milkman from Baramuri area, said the fodder crisis had compounded their woes. “The straw that we used to procure at Rs 5 per kg is now being sold at Rs 10 per kg,” he said.

District president of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Tarkeshwar Yadav, said: “The situation is very difficult for cowshed owners. We request the district administration to allow the opening of all sweets shops so that the milkmen can sell their milk.”