Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti, whose Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana is leading the agitation, said that they ensured that "not even a single tanker" came from Gujarat. He added they were being supported by Palghar strongman Hitendra Thakur, Gujarat's Patidar leader Hardik Patel and the local Adivasi Ekta Parishad Bhoomi Sena.
"We have sent the complete milk supply for today (Tuesday) (to Mumbai) and despite problems in some pockets, the supply may be more or less normal on Wednesday," said R.S Sodhi, managing director, Amul. Dairy development commissioner Rajiv Jadhav claimed that collections on Tuesday were better than Monday and said the situation would improve.
An official from the Kolhapur district co-operative milk producers union, which markets the 'Gokul' brand, said while they had stopped milk collection in solidarity with the protestors on Monday, they recorded 40% of the average collections of about 11 lakh litres on Tuesday. Gokul sells around 7.5 lakh milk in Mumbai.
Dealers said while they received near-normal stocks on Tuesday, the impact could be felt if protests continued. Customers were also buying excess milk to create a buffer.
"We have a storage capacity of around 10 lakh litres in Mumbai and stocks of around 6 lakh litres," said a senior official from the state apex milk federation Mahananda. It sells nearly 2 lakh litres in Mumbai.
He added while bigger brands could tide over the supply crisis by meeting some of the demand, smaller brands could be in trouble.
Mohan Yedurkar, managing director of Kolhapur's Warna their business remained largely unaffected.
Meanwhile, Pune and adjoining areas are bracing for a shortage from Wednesday as distributor Chitale Bandhu could not collect milk at its centres.