The compound, marked at both ends by arches that once proclaimed it as the Kancheepuram-Tiruvallur District Milk Producers’ Union, certainly looks it
CHENNAI: A stockless Aavin parlour, an ill-maintained children’s park, garbage foled land, crumbling staff quarters, and an “abandoned” office building – this is all that remains of one of South Asia’s earliest milk co-operative societies, the predecessor to what we know today as Aavin. “It’s like a ghost complex,” said an Kavin employee.
he compound, marked at both ends by arches that once proclaimed it as the Kancheepuram-Tiruvallur District Milk Producers’ Union, certainly looks like it. The lack of maintenance is palpable.
Waste piles up along the pathways, garbage is dumped and burned regularly. The residential quarters of employees appear depleted. “It was a bustling area once. I’m speaking about my father’s time, milk would go to districts from this place,” said Selvanathan, a 56-year-old resident:
This used to be the main distributive hub and administrative office for ancheepuram, Tiruvallur, and also what is now Chengalpattu district. “Now, the building is not in use, and about an acre of land is in the process of being handed over to TNEB,” said Nagarajan, GM-Aavin, Kancheepuram-Tiruvallur Union.
Formed in 1927 as the Chennai Milk Supply Society, this was the first registered milk producers’ cooperative in South Asia according to the State government. Over time, the model laid the foundation for a wider cooperative dairy movement in TN. The Department of Dairy Development was established in 1958, and in 1981, the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation, popularly known as Aavin, was created to centralise operations under a single brand.
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While key operations have since moved to modern facilities in Madhavaram and Iruvallur, the Ayanavaram site has remained largely forgotten and underutilised.
The hi-tech parlour, though large, does not stock the full range of Aavin products.
Residents say even milk is not available round the clock.
“We don’t need such a big parlour here. This isn’t a main area, it’s an inner stretch. A small Aavin shop with the essential goods would be enough,” they say.
The adjacent children’s park is also poorly maintained. But residents’ biggest concern, apart from sanitation, is lack of safety. “I can’t bring my kids here after sunset. It becomes dark, and is a breeding ground for illegal activities,” said Anu Gandhi, advocate, Madras High Court, who lives nearby.
Once a landmark of Tamil Nadu’s cooperative dairy movement, the Aavin’s land parcel in Ayanavaram is facing an uncertainty of possible repurposing.
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