Burgers & biryani at zunka bhakar kendras

Rules state that zunka bhakar should be on sale from 11 am to 2.00 pm and 7 pm to 9 pm. When this reporter enquired at the kendra near the Mahatama Phule police station at 1.30 pm he was told that it had been sold out. The low cost food proved to be elusive after a search at five other kendras. Besides, most of the kendra boards show they are run by women’s organisations. Vasudev, an employee at one such kendra, which has sprung up in a plot reserved for the rickshaw stand outside the Birla College, says, "The boards are necessary. People prefer eating at joints run by women."

The board outside this kendra says it is run by Nirmal Sewa Mahila Sanstha. Which is quite all right except that women have always been conspicuous by their absence here.

Located in prime areas it has not taken the fly-by-night operators long to discover this route of cornering lucrative business. With moulded plastic furniture liberally spread on the footpaths and streets and music systems blaring Bollywood hits, these joints sell everything except zunka bhakar. Some operators of kendras, on conditions of anonymity, admitted that they had sublet their stalls. "It saves us a lot of headache and also brings in an assured sum every month no matter how the business is," the lady told Express Newsline. The lessees are small-time food hawkers who operated from handcarts till this opportunity came by. "To operate the kendra in our name, we charge between Rs 5,000 to 6,000 besides a deposit of around Rs 50,000," she revealed.

Officials of the KDMC say they have nothing to do with the kendras. Executive Engineer V G Sidhaye said, "We sanction proposals forwarded by the tehsildar’s office and limit ourselves to looking after their civic needs and finding them land to operate." On monitoring of the kendras he said, "That’s the responsibility of the tehsildar’s office." Tehsildar G Tonpe, however, does not agree. "We simply act on the government’s orders." He explained a committee led by the guardian minister of every district recommends to the district collectorate on sanctioning. For quality control two talatis visit the kendras and make an observation of the total sales. He assured, "All is well with the zunkha bhakar kendras in Kalyan-Dombivli. I have not received a single complaint to date." When contacted state Minister for Environment and Thane Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik said that during allocation of kendras he gave preference to underprivileged women. On being asked if he was aware of the rackets involving the kendras, he said, "Yes. I have been in touch with Collector Ujwal Uke in this regard." He promised stringent action against those found involved.