Hyderabad: Few takers for take-away food

Hyderabad: Though restaurants are providing take away option, people in the city are wary of ordering food. According to a survey by LocalCircles, an online community social media platform, around 74 per cent of those surveyed said they will not be visiting their favourite restaurants in the next 30 days.

The 3-poll survey received over 24,000 responses located in 232 districts of India. Another similar survey by the platform states that around 65 percent of the citizens will not order restaurant food for delivery.

According to the Telangana State Hotels Association, turnover of the industry has fallen by almost 85 per cent for the months of April and May. Its president G Ashok Reddy said, "The condition of the hotel industry has become worse.

After May 31st, more than 40 per cent of those running restaurants will be closing their business with no income from past 60 days. It will take around 20 months to get back to normal after the end of the lock down. Those running restaurants and hotels in rent are requesting their owners to take half rent."

He adds further, "Few hotels that are only providing takeaway services are also rarely getting 10 to 15 orders in a day." Dr R Komala, Head, Department of Physics, St Pious X Degree and PG College, Hyderabad said, "The fear of the spread of the virus is making people hesitate to eat the outside food.

No one would take unnecessary risk of ordering food from outside, which will put the entire family at risk."

S Stella Paul, a 1st year MBA student from Bhavan's Vivekananda College, Sainikpuri said, "We are not sure of the condition of kitchen, staff and the cutlery. The food parcel goes through many hands. A fear has set in the minds of people and no one wants to take a chance."

Sudeepth Katkam, Assistant Manager, Deloitte Hyderabad, said, "For the past several days, people have not been eating outside food.

During these 60 days of lock down, people have been making and trying dishes at their houses. The situation has forced people to think twice before ordering the food."