Mumbaikars continue to eat from roadside stalls, BMC raids and doctors’ prescriptions notwithstanding.
Rains and the infections they bring along don’t stop Thane resident Bittu Patel from eating out. “Any food eaten stale or served cold is bad but I don’t see any harm in eating food served hot and made fresh,” he says. And he gives a thumbs-up to Thane as far as hygiene goes. “Most food joints in Thane look neat and clean,” he says.
Patel has company. Mumbai’s numerous road-side foodstalls owners claim that the demand for their pani-puris and vada pavs is as great, if not greater, during the monsoon, as compared to other seasons. And officer-goers and students form the bulk of their customers.
City doctors, however, don’t share the who-cares-about-the-rains attitude of compulsive gali food eaters. “If only these people knew better, they wouldn’t dare to eat such food,” says Dr Vasant Nagvekar, a Malad-based general practitioner. “I attend on 15 to 20 patients suffering from gastroenteritis, viral fever, typhoid, food poisoning and hepatitis B in a week.”
Many of Nagvekar’s patients are kids, who drink a lot of golas and fruit juices, which doctors say are often made with contaminated water. His advice to parents: Serve food steaming hot. Avoid cold beverages and stale food from stalls.”
Dr Ameeta Patil, who practices in Chembur has a similar scary rainy tale: “I treat 30 patients down with viral fever and malaria every day. Health consciousness may be on the rise, but youngsters tend to take their health for granted.”
Interestingly, Patil does not think lack of awareness of monsoon diseases is the main factor working here. “Youngsters just enjoy eating out and having a good time. No wonder, gastroenteritis, caused by contaminated food and water, is most commonly in the rains.”
The “youngsters’ are obviously not listening to the men and women in white. Listen to Ghatkopar resident Akshay Parekh. Most of his meals come from “khau gallis”. Says the 20-year-old, “Ghatkopar has numerous food stalls. I regularly indulge in pani puris and vada pavs here. And almost defiantly, he adds, “So far I haven’t fallen ill.”
Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is trying to do its bit. The civic body has raided some illegal roadside stalls under its scanner recently. But people will keep eating from stalls, both legal and illegal, BMC and doctors notwithstanding.
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