Alleging that increasing production costs are eating into sales, fodder manufacturers, in a co-ordinated effort, have stopped sending trucks transporting fodder from places which include Vasai-Pelhar, Bhoisar, Vangaon, Nasik, Talegaon in Maharashtra, Umergaon and Vapi in Gujarat and Silvassa in Daman and Diu to Mumbai. The manufacturers state that while they earn little or no profits, distributors or agents who sell their fodder to cattle-owners in the city are raking in all the moolah by pegging costs higher and quoting higher rates.

The clash has forced Mumbai's 3,300-odd buffalo owners, whose one lakh buffaloes account for nearly seven lakh litres of fresh milk for the city, to jab panic buttons. Nearly 60 per cent of theseowners have small holdings, and escalating costs have made business an expensive proposition.

The 250-odd fodder trucks which would roll into Mumbai every day have now stopped. Cattle-owners are beefing up on stocks, but they say they can't hold out for long. ``The suppliers having made it a prestige issue, and nearly 1.5 lakh cattle in Mumbai and Thane are being held to ransom,'' said an agent.

``The government must intervene and solve the issue on a priority, or else our cattle will starve to death waiting for their feed. The business of cattle-owners with smaller holdings who depend on day-to-day supplies is in the doldrums,''said Sharad Purav, secretary of Bombay Milk Producers' Association.

``The fight is between the suppliers and agents, but the cattle are being held at ransom. Although meetings were held this week to solve the crisis, the issue is deadlocked,'' he added.

Each buffalo requires a daily intake of at least 16 kilograms of fodder, which cattle-owners buy at Rs 1,200 for 500kilograms. The buffaloes are given a combination of cattle feed and fodder in a proportion of 2:3.

Supplementaires include cottonseed cakes, wheatgram, cocunut cakes, tur dal, gram and jowar husk, all expensive propositions for the cattle owners. ``It is like telling us that if you can't give your cattle fodder, give them cake instead. In desperation, several owners in a bid to cut cost are resorting to cheaper alternatives in cattle-feed. One disaster was proof enough!'' said a cattle owner.

Suresh Joshi, secretary of the dairy and animal husbandry department told Express Newsline: ``To my knowledge, the situation of fodder stock supply is comfortable. I am unaware of the so-called crisis, but I will look into the matter with urgency.''