Civic body's inaction on illegal vendors, operating near big hospitals and serving unhygienic and contaminated food, is not only creating trouble for pedestrians and vehicular movement but also contributing in spreading water and food-borne diseases in the national Capital. In addition to this, many private ambulances being parked on the roadside outside and inside the hospital premises in a haphazard manner are also hampering movement of emergency patients and vehicles.
The illegal street vendors on the footpaths outside the Safdarjung, GB Pant, lNJP and other big hospitals are openly serving unhygienic food. The civic authorities and hospital administration have turned a blind eye to this menace. Also due to encroachment of footpath, pedestrians are forced to walk on the road which also causes traffic snarl. The shopkeepers prepare eatables in the open with ingredients exposed to dust and pollutants.
There are over more than 100 street vendors running their outlets illegally on both sides of the roads and even inside the hospital premises. The condition of GB Pant and lNJP hospitals are even worse as even an ambulance cannot pass easily. Further, frequent traffic violations by e- rikshaws and autos have escalated the problem.
“The zonal departments of the municipal corporations have been launching drive against these errant vendors several times but they return back after few days to earn their livelihood”, said a senior corporation official. He also alleged that they (vendors) start operating again under the patronage of the Delhi Police.
While, doctors at these hospitals admitted that the poor patients and their relatives, who visit the hospital consume the deteriorated of contaminated food outside the hospital and fell ill themselves. “The relatives and even patients are forced to eat food that is sometimes rotten due to summer,” said a doctor requesting anonymity.
“It is responsibility of civic agencies to remove encroachment from the vicinity of the hospitals. With every passing day, their number keeps increasing. It cannot be possible without the unholy nexus of municipal corporations and police”, a doctor of Safdargjung said requesting anonymity. Special zones should be created by the corporation to accommodate these vendors, he added.
Jaundice and typhoid are the most common diseases spread by drinking water drawn from unhygienic sources and consuming contaminated food.