No bread for breakfast as city bakeries work with skeletal staff

KOLKATA:

Bread

, which is a staple in most city homes, was hard to come by at most markets on Tuesday. The trickle of a supply on Sunday virtually dried up on Monday, leaving lakhs discontent about an essential

breakfast

item disappearing from the menu.


Families were forced to shift to alternative options, including roti-sabzi, poha, corn flakes or oats. If the bakers’ association is to be believed, the shortage is liklely to be on till the end of the

lockdown

.

According to

bakery

owners, almost all labourers have left for their villages before the three-week lockdown started, leading to a halt in product of bread and other bakery products. Scarcity of

flour

and

maida

in the wholesale market has only compounded the problem. Bread manufactured by some of the popular brands have also disappeared from shops.

“In our household, bread is a must for breakfast. Till Sunday, we received at least some quantity but from Monday, there is absolutely no bread available in the markets. Families with children are bound to face a lot of difficulty. We are forced to explore other options,” said Arpit Ganguly, a resident of Premchand Boral Street in Bowbazar.

Pointing to the reason for the sudden shortage, Ariful Islam, chief executive officer of the West Bengal Bakers’ Association, said, “Only 5% bakeries are open in the city, which is highly inadequate to meet the demand.”

According to Islam, most labourers left the city for their villages on the Saturday before the Janata Curfew. “Saturday is a holiday in bakeries. These labourers, who live in the districts, could not return because the entire country was locked down with no local trains and buses plying. We were operating the bakeries with skeletal staff but now, even their families are scared and calling them back. Many of them have managed to leave already,” said Islam.

Alleged police highhandedness has also been making it difficult to retain the few hands, who have been reporting to work. A baker in Bowbazar alleged his employees had put the dough in the oven and were standing outside the bakery because it was very hot inside, when cops thrashed them. “The cops did not even give any time to explain they were employees of the bakery. One of the boys was badly injured and the rest were so scared that they have refused to work until the lockdown got over,” said the owner of the bakery.

Shortage in supply of flour and maida is causing a huge problem in production of bread. “Almost all flour mills in the state are shut. All the wholesale outlets in Posta are yet to open. The bakeries are not getting enough raw material for production,” said Aslam.

Owners said they were trying to convince some of their workers to return. “Some of them may return in a day or two but the supply of bread will return to normal only after the lockdown is lifted,” said Islam

.