Even as vendors at the Ludhiana railway station are suffering due to low footfall of passengers, their sales have been further hit by the fact that they have to serve cold food to customers as there is a ban on use of gas cylinders and other inflammables on the platform.
The vendors say they feel helpless when customers complain about the cold food at their stalls.
“Since we can’t use gas cylinders to heat food here, many customers go away after finding that the food is cold. I try my best to keep the poori (fried bread) hot and warm by storing them in a hot case, but it gets cold after some time,” said Bhisham Dutt, a food vendor at Ludhiana railway station.
Moreover, vendors work in two shifts, giving them limited time for earnings.
“Two persons run operations at a single rehri. One vendor sells food from 6 am to 2 pm while the other one gets to use the same stall in the second shift till 10 pm,” said a food vendor.
Adding to their miseries is the fact that most trains are running with limited number of passengers due to spike in Covid cases. Moreover, elite trains like the Vande Bharat and Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi have pantry facilities, due to which passengers purchase food on the train itself. The online booking system has further made ordering food on trains easier.
{{/usCountry}}Adding to their miseries is the fact that most trains are running with limited number of passengers due to spike in Covid cases. Moreover, elite trains like the Vande Bharat and Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi have pantry facilities, due to which passengers purchase food on the train itself. The online booking system has further made ordering food on trains easier.
{{/usCountry}}“Earnings had scaled up after rail traffic was restored in August last year after decline in Covid cases but the situation began to worsen again in November last year, when 25 long-route trains were cancelled (till February 28) due to the foggy weather,” said another food vendor at the station. He added that the start of more Vande Bharat trains, as announced by the Centre in Union Budget recently, would further aggravate their problems.
The vendors say they have made repeated pleas to railway officials to allow use of gas cylinders, but to no avail. Ludhiana station director Tarun Kumar said after a fire mishap at one of the stations in the past, the railways had decided to disallow the use of gas cylinders and inflammables at food stalls on the platforms. “This is for the safety of the people. Railways can’t take any chance with their lives and thus cylinders are banned on platforms,” he said.
However, the use of gas cylinders is permitted in the cafeteria/canteen located on platform number-1. According to an official, since cylinders are kept in the backyard of the cafeteria, they are of no harm due to proper ventilation there.