A Janakeeya Hotel, which has been functioning at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s golden jubilee building near the Overbridge Junction, was closed down temporarily after a small portion of the building caved in.
It is one of the 17 Janakeeya Hotels run by the Corporation with Kudumbashree volunteers, to provide food at affordable rates to the public, especially during the COVID-19- induced lockdown.
On Tuesday, no cooking happened at the hotel, which is located on the ground floor of the four-storeyed building.
Due to the high demand at this centre, more than 900 food packets were brought here from two other Janakeeya hotels and sold off in no time. As many as 1,400 food packets, each costing ₹20, are sold from here on usual days. Early on Monday morning, a section of the building, which was being used as a storage area by the Kudumbashree workers, caved in. The walls inside the kitchen too are in a dangerous state, with large cracks appearing at some parts while some other areas are almost separated from the roof.
The 10 women who run the whole enterprise, including purchasing, cooking, packing and sales, spend most of their day here, with work for the breakfast beginning at 2 a.m. daily and that of the dinner finishing by 7 p.m.
Repair works
“The hotel was closed down temporarily since there are chances of it further caving in. Repair works will be carried out immediately. The estimates have been prepared and we are moving ahead with the tender proceedings. We are looking for alternate spaces,” says S. Salim, chairperson of the Corporation’s Welfare Standing Committee.
