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New Delhi: Despite a blanket ban against selling cut fruits and raw juices during the summer, roadside vendors are doing good business by flouting rules at the expense of public health.
A weekly payment of Rs500 (Dh45) is all that is required to make the local police and civic authorities turn a blind eye.
Delhi usually witnesses an increase in the number of food- and water-borne diseases during summer months. This is mainly caused by consuming food, fruit and juices from roadside vendors.
A round of the downtown Connaught Place reveals that vendors continue to sell cups of sliced watermelon, mango, pineapples and grapes at busy intersections.
All that the officials do is to casually warn people saying the sales are illegal and lack of sanitary conditions could lead to food borne illness. At times, they even conduct raids only to rehabilitate the vendors at some other place.
"Many of the vendors from inner circle of Connaught Place and metro stations have been picked up and dropped off at street corners to sell the goods," said Rakesh Yadav, vendor.
The local civic authorities have no record about the number of street vendors selling the fruit cups across the city illegally. Officials admit that it is a major health hazard and that they have been trying to address with limited success. Some of the vendors said that they have been hired to do the roadside business at the monthly payment of Rs1,000.
"It is likely that one person or group of people are behind the business. We do not have much information about who owns this business," said another vendor Raju.
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