BMC issues guidelines for roadside food outlets in city

Bhubaneswar: To ensure sanitation, public health and hassle-free movement of people, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday released a set of guidelines for roadside food outlets.
“A number of food outlets are doing their business on the roadside without having sufficient parking facilities and by following sanitation. The customers park their vehicles on the road and eat, causing heavy sanitation hazards and traffic congestion,” said the BMC official sources.
Pertaining to this problem, BMC has directed all the vendors that no food outlet should be on the road, footpath or over drains. Food outlets without sufficient parking space for vehicles of customers should not serve on the spot and instead opt for take-home food or online delivery only.
The guideline also stated that food outlets having the required parking space have to follow the sanitation protocols by keeping twin dustbins in their shops, storing garbage in a segregated manner and handing it over to the door-to-door collection vehicle, and cleaning 5-metre radius of their outlet by themselves.
“The food outlet workers are to wear clean clothes – head cap, apron, hand gloves and face mask and serve food in a hygienic manner and the outlet has to obey and ensure all principles of food safety. No food outlet is allowed to do business in locations designated as ‘No Vending Zone’ by BMC,” the guideline stated. Any deviation of these instructions will be viewed seriously and BMC will take all measures to impose a fine and shut the shop with the cancellation of trade licence and seizure of the vehicles,” it added.