TAXILA, April 27: Lack of proper monitoring by the food regulatory authorities has given milkmen in Taxila and Wah Cantt a free hand to sell substandard milk.

During a visit to the market on Sunday, it was observed that despite a ban, milkmen were selling substandard milk in blue containers causing stomach diseases among the consumers.

They are also allegedly selling cream-added milk in blue containers which is a sheer violation of the directives of the district government. The citizens have lodged protests against the milkmen but the authorities concerned are looking the whole affair as a silent spectator.

Some insiders told this reporter that mixing of water, chalk and a herb with milk to increase its quantity and thickness continued.

Physician Dr Ramzan Abdullah while talking to this reporter said though adding water to milk was not dangerous, mixing contaminated water with it could lead to a number of stomach- related problems in addition to causing hepatitis A, B and C.

“Addition of chalk can also cause stomach and urinary problems or lead to liver failure.”

The milk sellers, however, claimed that the quality of milk varied from season to season. “It is because of the intense weather and mixing of ice that the milk at times appears thinner,” explained Mohammad Anar Khan, a milkman.

Yaqoob Malik adds from Attock: The prices of milk have been increased in the city in the wake of hikes in POL prices.

The price of loose milk has been increased by Rs2 to Rs4 per litre. About 80 per cent of milk consumed in Attock is brought from the surrounding villages of Chacch areas. Hundreds of milkmen on motorcycles, bicycles and pickups bring the commodity daily from Hazro, Mosa, Bahadur Khan, Waisa, Gondal, Haji Shah and Kamra and distribute it in houses, restaurants, bakeries and shops.

The milkmen usually increase the prices on their own in April every year saying with the rise in temperature buffaloes start milking less and the increase was necessary to offset the losses.

Last year, the milkmen increased per litre price by Rs4 and were selling milk at Rs28 to Rs30 per litre till recently.

“We used to sell milk at Rs26 per litre and gowalas sold it at Rs30 per litre. But now exorbitant increase in prices of everything has forced us to sell the commodity at Rs32 to Rs34 per litre,” a milkman of Darulsalam Colony said.

Another milkman argued that the price of packed milk was increased every now and then but nobody objected to it.

The district and tehsil governments have never fixed the price of loose milk; therefore, consumers would have to bear the hike in milk prices which demands the authorities concerned to also include the loose milk.