Night Food Bazaar stall owners seek permission to start business in Visakhapatnam
The Hindu
‘It is unjustified to put restrictions only on us when other business activities are allowed’
Stall organisers of the Night Food Bazaar demanded that the civic body allow them to open their food trucks. The association members say that even after five months after COVID-19 second wave, they are not being allowed to open the food stalls, citing night curfew and the pandemic.
The Night Food Bazaar was started by the Urban Community Development (UCD) Wing of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in February 2020 near Old Jail Road or Central Park area. While the Food truck businessmen were all smiles and dreaming of expanding their business through the bazaar, which was introduced for the first time in the city, the pandemic had hit their business from the next month. Though the stalls were reopened by the end of 2020, yet again, they were closed since April 2021. As of now, there are around 120 food trucks running at the bazaar.
According to the food truck businessmen, many of them are reeling under severe financial crisis and are depending on loans to run their families. Many of them have taken loans from banks to run the food trucks. After failing to pay the loan instalments the banks have already seized a number of trucks. Several vendors are facing health issues due to the COVID-19 apart from financial problems.