CITIZENS FOR THE CITY

Mumbaikars battle to reclaim city

In 2010, Ordinary Citizens Had Authorities Perennially On Their Toes With Fervid Activism

— Linah Baliga

Milk adulteration racket busted

—Sukhada Tatke

Times of India Mumbai edition 27th December 2010 page 5

It started with the residents of Borivli, Kandivli and Dahisar complaining that the milk they got at home was not up to the mark. Soon, the struggle evolved and, in March, a milk adulteration racket in the area was busted.
The crusade against milk adulteration was started by members of the New Link Residents’ Forum, Dahisar. Fearing that the racketeers would get tipped off if they involved the police, they took it upon themselves to solve the problem. For 40 nights, eight members of the group patrolled the streets. “We used to step out of our homes at 2 am and drive around till 6am. We collected a lot of information and zeroed in on six locations where the adulteration was being done,” said forum secretary Harish Pandey.
Once they were certain of the racketeers’ whereabouts, the crusaders informed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One night, forum members got together with FDA officials and raided the places. As expected, the criminals were caught red-handed and bags filled with adulterated milk seized.

Milk adulteration busted

“Our work was not over. We had to ensure that the gangs don’t come back. That’s when we started keeping in touch with cops, who were by then very supportive and happy with our success. The two kingpins of the racket were finally externed,” Pandya said.
The residents feel the battle will continue until all such gangs are busted. “We can say confidently that the proportion of milk adulteration has come down drastically. But we will be satisfied when it stops completely,” Pandey said.