THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The accident involving a milk van at Ambalathara Friday night was among half a dozen fatal ones caused by tankers and delivery vans running on contract in the district recently.
Residents say rash milk vans are too prevalent on the stretch between Attakulangara and Thiruvallam en route to the MILMA plant. As per drivers of the milk truck, speeding is inevitable as they have to bear consequences if milk is spoilt.
“I had recently lost Rs 13,000 due to spoiled milk. Once a driver commits to deliver milk or newspaper he will have to do it even if his mom dies. During collection stage as well as distribution, sometimes we may have to rush to compensate the time taken by jams or processions related to temple festivals. Then there could be a tyre burst that will eat up time,” said driver Sreekumar.
Milk has to be carried from societies at remote localities like Venjaramoodu, Kallara, Venganoor, Uchakkada, Malayinkeezhu and Kattakada in a matter of three-four hours during various timeframes throughout the day.
“Milk that reaches late to dairy is tested and rejected if it is spoilt. Different milk societies have different pickup times, and delays could happen from their side too. Similar is the tight schedule given for the distribution of package milk booth in morning and evening,” he added.
Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers Union (TRCMPU) Chairman Kallada Ramesh rejected the argument and said that punctual drivers will never have to engage in last minute rush.
“No milk van runs more than 100 km, so drivers needn’t blame it on traffic jams. The time slots given to shuttle between booths are also adequate,” he said.
Poonthura SI Sajin Louis said discussions would be held between drivers and officials on ways to end rash driving.
