Palamau district is reeling under rain-water crisis but it has a surfeit of milk as supply of milk from the contiguous areas of Daltonganj remains till date unaffected. The drought shadow is getting larger with exodus of the labourers from here to places like Chennai, Rajasthan, Goa etc.
Daltonganj gets milk from its neighbouring areas to the tune of 8,000 litres to 10,000 litres a day. During festival time the demand for milk goes up two-fold. Milk comes here by road and train. Asked as to how it is that Palamau is plagued with water crisis but milk flows smoothly Manish Kumar Yadav (22) of Dharam Tola in Chiyanki said the cattle have no problem right now as their feed is available and the water in reservoir is enough for their drinking.
Manish is doing Honours course in English from GlA college and he is in degree part one but every morning and evening he paddles down with 10 litres of milk in aluminium cans to Daltonganj and delivers milk to houses. He has only two buffaloes.
Basant Yadav is also a resident of the same area and he sells 30 litres of milk a day. There is no other job which offers such a fast earning. The town has many dairies where milching cows and buffaloes are kept and milk is sold morning evening. The price of milk is variable from 30 rupees to 35 rupees a litre. Purchasing packed milk is in practice only in rich families. Nevertheless the demand of the milk is met by supply of milk from the rural areas. Chiyanki is a hub of milk supply.