By N.K.A. Ballal, Retd. Sr. Vice-President, ITDC
About two years back, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) had taken a decision to relocate the food vendors, spread all over the city. The reasoning behind such a move was two-folded. Firstly, licence was to be issued to vendors who adhered to basic hygiene principles and secondly, to de-congest the busy by-lanes of the city. But as usual, the officials are slow in enforcing any good decision which benefits the citizens of this city and also ensures that the clean city tag remains for some more time. Vested interest always comes before the city’s interest ? I have a small suggestion, which if implemented may change the way street food is visualised. In the old city of Ahmedabad at Gujarat, there is a city centre called as “Manek Chowk.” This city centre is a busy junction in the morning with vendors selling fruits and other condiments along with several old jewellery shops around it. Literally a wholesale mandi. Lo, by evening or by 8 pm, this centre gets transformed into a busy food court selling hot piping food to the milling local, domestic and international tourists. Chairs are placed randomly and families come in hordes to taste and eat the food. Affordable, hygienic and hot food. What else can one ask for ? Since this is a city centre, transportation is also not a problem, even late nights. And is safe for families too. Food is served from about 9 pm to 1.30 am. Later, the food vendors get the area cleaned in the night itself so that the morning business can go on unhindered. No trip to this city is complete without a trip to this Chowk to savour the delicacies on offer.
