The Sudha Dairy plant at Phulwarisharif, which is the focal milk supplier of Patna, was closed on Monday because of waterlogging.

The dairy authorities had to shut down the plant after 3ft water accumulated on its premises on Monday morning. The plant had to be shut down because of waterlogging for the first time since it was established in 1981.

Dairy managing director Sudhir Kumar Singh said there was a short-circuit problem in the electric panels because of the water intrusion, thus, forcing them to close down the plant.

The dairy will not be able to supply milk from its own facility and has made arrangements to meet 2.5 lakh litres of the daily consumption of the city using its facilities at the Biharsharif, Ara and Hajipur plants. While Biharsharif is around 60km southeast of Patna, Hajipur is across the Ganga around 25km north of Patna. Ara is 60km west of Patna across Sone river.

The managing director said: "Our plant worked till 6am on Monday, but the water rose and entered the electric panels leading to a short circuit. There has been no damage to our plant though. Only when the water level would recede, the plant can resume operations. We would outsource milk from our Biharsharif, Hajipur and Ara plants."

To ensure timely delivery of milk, the 42 trucks of the Patna-based dairy plant have been engaged to procure milk from the other plants. Sources, however, said closure of the Phulwarisharif dairy would affect the supply chain.

"The Biharsharif, Hajipur and Ara plants will provide milk only after meeting their own consumptions. They may not fulfil the requirement and milk may not be transported on time. Private milk firms might take advantage of the situation and sell milk at higher prices," said an official.

The managing director admitted it too.

"We might have to face problems in supplying because we are procuring milk from outside. There might be a delay in delivering milk or we might have to face other problems. There is no power on the campus so we will have to finish work in daylight," said Singh.

Dairy officials said the Phulwarisharif Nagar Parishad has not made a proper sewerage network in the area because of which there was waterlogging.

"The waterlogging problem worsened after Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority left the construction work of a drain midway. Had it been completed, the waterlogging problem would not have been so severe," said Singh.

The vice-chairman of the Phulwarisharif Nagar Parishad, Shaban Khan blamed dairy officials for not having a proper mechanism on the campus to flush out rainwater.