17 April,2011 06:24 AM IST | | Varun Singh
Politicos throw chaat challenge for street food lovers As the Shiv Sena, MNS and Samajwadi Party make Mumbai's street food a political issue, Sunday MiDDAY goes looking for pani puri waalas, only to find they have disappeared. Meanwhile, BMC announces an anti-roadside food stall drive starting Monday
The video of a pani puri vendor, who urinated into the vessel which he used to serve customers, has not only gone viral on YouTube, it has also kicked up a political storm.
Guptaji, a vendor at Carter Road, Bandra, set up shop on Saturday,
although MNS workers took to the streets, vandalising roadside stalls.
The BMC will start a drive against illegal streefood vendors on Monday.
Pic/Santosh Nagwekar
A story published by a city tabloid last week reported that 19 year-old college student Ankita Rane had taken a video of pani puri waala Rajdev Lakhan Chauhan committing the act at his stall across her Thane residence.
While the police let him off with a warning and a fine of Rs 1,200, political parties with an eye on the vote bank are milking the incident for all its worth.
Samajwadi Party workers protest againstu00a0 Raj Thackeray and MNS
violence against street vendors on Friday. Pic/Atul Kamble
On Thursday and Friday, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Seva activists assaulted street food vendors in parts of Mumbai and Thane. On Friday, Samajwadi party workers burnt an effigy of Raj Thackeray, leading to a skirmish between the two groups. Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated on Saturday that the drive against illegal stalls would begin with renewed vigour from Monday.
"We have already started driving illegal stalls out. But on Monday, the whole process will be initiated with full vigour. All the stalls that do not have a license will be not be allowed to run," License Superintendent, BMC, Dinkar Kharat told Sunday MiD DAY.
Meanwhile, pani puri waalas like Guptaji, who has set up stall at Carter Road, Bandra for over a decade, feel they are being targetted unnecessarily.
"The Thane incident has had a major impact on all of us. Even the innocent are facing problems. Those who conduct their business with honesty are being forced to shut down," he said. By Saturday, all pani puri vendors in the city seem to have disappeared. This reporter was hard-pressed to find any between Lalbaug and Khar, and found a a single stall operational on Carter Road. But that too was forced to shut down after policemen arrived on the scene.
"Pani puri waalas are unhygienic. We are opposed to the roadside stalls, not restaurants that sell pani puri. We do not have any issue with them, since they maintain standards," said Chetan Pednekar, vice-president of the students' wing of MNS, who said all members had been informed about illegal stalls in their wards last week.
However Rajesh Khadawala, owner of South Mumbai's landmark street food eatery Vithal Bhelwala, Fort, said it was imprudent to hold all stall owners at fault. "People should eat only at reputed centres. But when you don't get pure water at home, how can you expect a stall owner on the road to sell you hygienic food?" he asked.
The Shiv Sena-led Thane Municipal Corporation forced nearly 100 pani puri stalls owners to shut down last week.
Rahul Shewale, the standing committee chairman of BMC and a Shiv Sena corporator from Chembur said, "Now strong action will be taken against hawkers from next week on." He denied that this was a move in reaction to MNS taking up the issue. "We carry out such steps every week. There is no connection with the MNS. We need stronger laws against illegal hawking. Currently, we seized carts but the owner can come and reclaim it by paying a fine. We need to amend the law. The common man also needs to understand that he shouldn't go out and eat at such stalls," said Shewale.
Strangely, no one seemed to bother about the plight of the pani puri waalas, worst affected by the violence spanning two days."If we don't run our stalls, where will we get money to feed ourselves?" asked Guptaji.
And while Mumbaikars might be disgusted by the video incident, not everyone believes banning stalls in a city synonymous with street food, is the answer.
Gaurav Gupta, a 24 year-old employee of a real estate company in Goregaon said the BMC should instead focus on conducting frequent health check ups. Gupta, who eats his daily lunch at roadside stalls, said, "Roadside stalls are popular and cost effective. I understand that the BMC needs to take action after the incident, but it can't punish everyone. Instead, it should send out multiple health teams to check hygiene at stalls and take action against defaulters. This will help both, the stall owners and locals, who love their street food."
