Night food courts set up on the Grand Trunk Road, the old national highway passing through the city and connecting the city roads to the national highway to Chennai and the State’s highway to Hyderabad, have caught the popular imagination.
Guntur, a well-known trading and commercial hub, is frequented by traders and vegetable vendors bringing in their produce to sell it to local distributors.
It is a common sight to see farmers making their way into the city, when the restless city barely slipped into snooze.
So food is always precious to find in the odd hours and except a few outlets near bus station, railway station, fresh food is not available.
Decision welcomed
“We welcome the decision to open night food courts. It will help travellers and some of the students who prepare for competitive examinations,” says Girish, an aspirant of the competitive examinations.
Now the food courts, set up at the busy Market junction, are set to satiate the hunger of the travellers, thanks to an initiative of the Guntur Urban Police.
The food stalls offer everything on a platter -- from the hot kichidi, pulav to idly and dosa to a variety of bajjis, ice creams etc.
“We have noticed that the street food stalls are being set up everywhere and in the absence of any regulations, the vendors are moving about the city throughout the night. There have been a few instances of law and order problems, so we decided to follow the model at Vijayawada and allow vendors to open food courts which will be open from 11 p.m. and 1.30 a.m. There will also be a police patrol team. The food stalls have been set up on an experimental basis and we will follow up by drafting a series of regulations,” says Superintendent of Police, Guntur Urban, P.H.D. Ramakrishna.
ID cards
On Tuesday night, the SP along with his officers went around the food stalls. The police are planning to give ID cards to vendors, a draw of lots to allow vendors to set up stalls at rotation basis and regulating traffic.
