The Hindu : Roadside eateries thrive on lacunae

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 08, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Roadside eateries thrive on lacunae

By R. Sujatha

CHENNAI April 7 . The pavements of Mint Street along the compound wall of the office of the Southern Railway general manager off E.V.R. Periyar Salai are home to many families both during day and night, who make a living selling flowers and tender coconuts. The entrance to the office is on this lane and its compound wall abuts a `sulabh' public toilet, the walls of which face a news mart and a hotel.

Though barely a few feet from the toilet, everyday people flock to the tiny hotel and the news mart, which are brick and mortar buildings required to be run with licences both to put up structures and to operate. Under a plastic sheet awning in the tiny space between the toilet walls and the hotel, tea is served. An accidental glance may reveal that the toilet is not cleaned regularly. The news mart sells books, papers, biscuits and other eatables.

The Madras City Municipal Corporation Act, together with the Madras Public Health Act, renamed the TN Public Health Act are pieces of the law required to ensure that standards are met for such public eateries. Some of the provisions include fine for preparing unwholesome food, fly nuisance and improper disposal of kitchen waste.

"Any premises in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance should be considered for action," says the law, adding that in case of "any accumulation or deposit of refuse or other matter which is prejudicial to health or a nuisance, every urban local authority shall enforce the provisions of this Act in order to abate such nuisances."

Health department authorities in the Corporation say the Act is not only antique but is also a paper tiger and has no teeth. It has too many loopholes and does not address the changes even in the medical field. For instance, a health officer according to the Act included only a person with medical qualifications while in the past 70 years the medical field diversified to include other specialities. The Act does not address the problem of plastic, now considered a `health hazard', they point out.

The Corporation now employed qualified entomologists and could bring about changes based on their understanding of the world of disease-spreading insects, they contend. Yet, the Act allowed for appointment of only medical practitioners for the post of health officers.

While the law has detailed stipulations on setting up hotels, there is little explicit restriction on the setting up of hotels or eateries near public toilets. Health officials say according to the Act fines can be collected from persons throwing water, or rubbish on the streets or relieving themselves in public places. These fines were small and measures taken in 1995 to raise them have not taken off.

In areas like T. Nagar, roadside shops do brisk business as they receive high patronage. The mobile eateries on Venkatanarayana Road, Sivagnanam Street and Sivaprakasam Street to name just a few, are patronised by luxury car owners. As dusk settles, the streets come alive and even the compound wall of the corporation maternity clinic near the post office on Sivaprakasam Road has become a convenient place to defecate.

The Corporation Health Officer who is in charge of the inspection and certification of hotels and eateries in the city, says there are no rules to restrict mobile eateries though the vehicles are periodically seized and the vessels, confiscated.

The owners are fined and their mobile units released. This means that the eateries can set up shop again and since the patronage is high, they can make up for the lost business.

Will the Corporation authorities take shelter in the loopholes in the laws that have been enacted to give the public good governance or will they re-read the rules that go with the "outdated British era laws" which have not been replaced with anything meaningful from the health point of view?

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Roadside eateries thrive on lacunae