LAHORE, Nov 30: Sale of foodstuffs by vendors on footpaths, three-wheelers and makeshift roadside restaurants is going on unchecked almost everywhere in Lahore, more so at busy market places.

The City District Government seems to have accepted this hazardous practice as an ineluctable component of the city food culture, which should be examined from different angles to formulate an effective plan of action.

People, who are not aware of the dangers of eating such food sold openly on street corners, footpaths and places other than hotel and restaurants, need to be educated about the health hazards.

The presence of dust particles in the heavily polluted air in the city, which settle on the uncovered food during the course of its display, and hordes of flies hovering over it are two major health hazards.

Heaps of cooked food displayed on large platters by vendors on roadsides are storehouses of different kinds of viral, bacterial and water-borne diseases, which can afflict the consumers.

Setting up temporary food shops on footpaths and open spaces also causes hardships to the pedestrians, who are forced to use the edges of roads, which are already overburdened by recklessly driven vehicles.

At certain places, including the Mall, dining tables have also been set up on footpaths by the vendors where food is served. Two points near Faisal Chowk and outside Zoological Gardens on the Shahra-i-Quaid-i-Azam have earned notoriety for the sale of contaminated food.

Items sold at open air food shops include substandard mutton, poultry and milk products by the vendors, who have not bothered to get licences from the government for this purpose. They enjoy the alleged support of the CDG officials concerned.

Several teams, headed by magistrates, have been constituted many times to organize raids at such places. However, no result has come to light so far.—PPI