Containment Zone rules badly hits Masala Chaats business in Tirupati

Containment Zone in Tirupati: Due to rising corona cases in temple city Tirupati since last two months MCT officials and Police have been implementing strict containment zone rules across the city and imposed the limitations over business hours. This is showing very bad impact on few lower income groups like migrant masala chaats and panipuri sellers who are facing hardship to survive in temple city Tirupati. It may be noted that till August 15 vendors were allowed to do the businesses till 2 pm in the afternoon. Later they allowed up to 5pm in the evening every day.

Particularly these timings are not useful to do the panipuri and masala chaat shops. Usually their business hours will start in the evening from 5 to night 9 pm. Hence , all the panipuri and chaat sellers are suffering from strict containment zone restrictions. Except evening business, the remaining all the businesses are running every day in the city without any obstructions.

Most of the panipuri and chat shop owners and workers belong to North states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Those are very small income groups and depending for survival on daily business income.

For the last two months they were living without business and struggling to meet their family needs and other expenditure. Few workers families' ladies are literally begging for bread on roads with their children. It's a very pathetic situation,nobody takes care of them, either officials or politicians have not responded over their problems so far. Few of the chaats making workers were going to other works as daily labour and few settled in watchman jobs at apartments.

In the city, TK street, Tilak Road , Gandhi Road, University Road, Airbypass Road, Balaji Colony, VV Mahal Road and Kapila Theertham Road are famous for chaat businesses. Now those shops were seen as shut down. More than 1000 chaat masala food business North India vendors were in Tirupati. Now they all are struggling for existence and looking for government aid.

Speaking to The Hans India , A chaat seller P Aanand from Bihar who was settled in Tirupati as a chaats seller said that " Now our situation is very horrible,Officials are not looking towards our problems. Many of them are not having ration cards so they are not getting Government free rice and other benefits here. On the other side we lost our daily income and are presently facing tough situations to survive without business here". We are requesting the officials to allow at least to do the panipuri and other masala chaats food business in take away mode", he added.