Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has tightened its grip on street food vendors in the nation’s capital, requiring them to offer parking spaces for patrons at the location where they sell their wares. Additionally, the city’s civic authority has mandated sanitary upkeep for all food sellers.
According to the reports, BMC wrote, “It has come to the knowledge of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation that a great number of food outlets are doing their business on the roadside without having sufficient parking facility and sanitation protocols. Their customers are forced to park their vehicles on the road and eat there causing heavy sanitation hazards and traffic congestion. This is posing a problem for the local people and for the commuters.”
The BMC has directed all the roadside food outlets and their vendor associations to abide by the following norms.
- No food outlet should be on the road, footpath & over drains.
- Food outlets have no sufficient parking space for vehicles of customers should not serve food items on the spot. They should opt for take-home food or online delivery of their food items only.
- The food outlets having required parking space have to follow the sanitation protocols of BMC and keep twin dustbins in their shops, store garbage in segregated ways and handover to door to door collection vehicles, and clean 5 meters radius of their outlet by themselves.
- The food outlet workers are to wear a clean dress and good attire, such as a head cap, clean apron, hand gloves and face mask etc. and serve the food in a hygienic manner.
- The food outlets have to obey and ensure all principles of food safety.
- No food outlet is allowed to do business in locations designated as “No Vending Zone” by BMC.
Any deviation from these instructions will be viewed seriously and the BMC will take all measures to impose a fine and close the shop with the cancellation of the trade license and seizure of the vehicles illegally parked on the road.
