Mandya city municipality has no control over mobile canteens in Mandya

MANDYA: Mobile canteens are an inexpensive alternative for the poor and the middle class.
It's a mushrooming sector doing brisk business, with not much attention paid to the consumers' hygiene.
Mandya city municipality (CMC) chairman Arunkumar says that the CMC does not have any control over mobile canteens. However, he has instructed health inspectors to monitor them on a regular basis regularly and see to that they maintain hygiene.
"As of now, we don't have rules to regulate mobile canteens. When we ask them to close shop, they demand an alternative place to run their business. We are searching for a common place for all mobile canteens to operate from," he said. If all mobile canteens are run from one place, it helps authorities to regulate them and collect taxes from them, Arunkumar added. Shivu, a BSc graduate, who runs a kabab centre, says unemployment forced him to establish his own venture and he is happy with his business. "I don't have any problem except paying monthly hafta. We are harassed for petty reasons. If the municipality can provide a designated place, we are ready to shift our business there and pay taxes too," he said.
Mallesh, a government employee who swears by mobile canteens, says that he prefers them as hotel charges are steep.
"Yes, they are not high on hygiene, but then what is the guarantee that hotels maintain hygiene," he quips.