SIALKOT, Oct 6: Milkmen from the rural areas of the district have stopped the supply of fresh milk to the Sialkot city and started demanding an increase in the milk prices.

The supply of milk from the rural areas has been suspended for the last five days. Citizens have been facing difficulties, as they are compelled to purchase milk packets for which the shopkeepers are charging arbitrarily.

When contacted, some milkmen, including Muhammad Aslam, Allah Rakha, Mureed Husain and Muhammad Bashir, urged the Tehsil Municipal Administration and the district government to increase the rates of the milk they are selling to shopkeepers in the city.

However, according to the city's milk sellers, they are already paying high rates for the milk and in case of further increase in the rates they will be forced to charge highly.

In Sialkot city, good quality milk is being sold between Rs25 and Rs30 per litre while low quality milk from Rs20 to Rs22 per litre instead of the fixed official rates of Rs18 to Rs20 for the same quantity.

Expressing concern over the situation, Citizens Rights Protection Council chairman Dr Muneer Butt said the officials of the district administration and the TMA were not interested in checking the quality and prices of the milk being supplied to the city by the rural areas' milkmen.

Meanwhile, Markazi Anjuman-i-Saarifeen District President Khawaja Tariq Mahmood Butt has urged the government to take serious notice of the situation.