It is business as usual across the city as hundreds of curry points, dal and rice kiosks, coconut vendors, and food trucks catered to thousands of customers at lunchtime on Tuesday. At the Irani cafes where hundreds of thousands of cups steaming tea is dispensed every day, the colourful cups filled trash bins. At an upscale cafe in Secunderabad, water is a bottle of water. “Washing glasses to high hygiene standards is time consuming. This cost effective,” says the bearer.
“Curry and rice for ₹80. Extra curry you have to pay more. I don’t know about any ban,” said a food seller, while heaping up rice on a green plastic plate, on the kerb of Vengal Rao Park. As hungry cab and auto sellers stopped by to grab a bite, the green plates covered with thin plastic sheets piled up.
“I use three packets of these sachets. Each has 100 sachets,” says a mirchi bajji seller standing near Irram Manzil Metro station. However, a token change has been made by some restaurants that are now using wooden spoons and aluminium-coated plastic packets.
