Smart, clean street food hubs ready to serve Kol favourites in Patuli, Russel St and Tala
Times of India | 15 July 2024
Kolkata: In an endeavour to enable the citizens to savour the taste of famous Kolkata street food in a smart and hygienic manner, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has set up food hubs in three locations across the city.
Shabby food stalls that now line streets have made way for smart food zones at Russel Street in central Kolkata, Patuli in south-east Kolkata and Tala Jheel Park in north Kolkata.
A TOI team found that the food hubs are ready to roll out.
The first among the three that is likely to be inaugurated in a month is the food hub at Patuli. While the edge of the water body along EM Bypass in Patuli has emerged as a major hangout zone, the newly constructed food hub will certainly add to its attraction among the foodies. The KMC has constructed 16 stalls that will serve a variety of street food and snacks. Spacious and specially designed benches have also been readied here. To make the food hub attractive among the visitors, the civic authorities have installed Raj-era lighting. The wide pavement on which these food stalls have been set up has been laid with designer paver blocks.
The KMC slum development department has set up food hubs with financial assistance from the ministry of health and family welfare. “We are ready to inaugurate all three food hubs. We are waiting for a nod from civic brass,” said a KMC official.
At Tala Jheel Park, it has constructed 20 food stalls that will offer north Kolkatans and foodies from other parts of the city their favourite ‘telebhaja’ and other mouth-watering snacks.
The third food hub at Russel Street, a prime commercial zone, will cater to the demands of office-goers. Here, the KMC has set up 32 stalls that will accommodate existing food hawkers.
According to an official, KMC is ready to inaugurate these food hubs once the stalls are distributed. KMC food safety officers will then provide NOC after testing the food quality.
A survey by All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health on street food had found that Kolkata street food had nutritional value but the stalls lacked basic hygiene. Various KMC departments will provide infrastructural support like water supply, power and maintenance of roads and pavements.