Bhubaneswar, Oct. 14: Roadside eateries in the city continue to dish out unhygienic food because of the lack of proper monitoring.

The city has around 13,000 roadside eateries selling gupchup, aludam, dahibara and fast food. However, lack of sanitation measures remains an issue at these joints. While some kiosks operate from cycle trolleys, several mobile vans, too, have started doing business along the city roads.

Rasulgarh resident Ashwini Mohapatra said: "Most of these food kiosks use water from tube wells. I used to have gupchup, along with my friends, near Ram Mandir. However, after seeing before my eyes the gupchup seller using unclean water, I have stopped having food from roadside eateries."

With the onset of winter, several such eateries can be seen doing business at the exhibition ground and Janata Maidan.

Saheed Nagar resident Sagarika Satapathy said food kiosks, especially the ones selling gupchup, aludam and dahibara prepare the food items in an unhygienic way posing threat to public health. "People relish the dishes. However, nobody questions the lack of sanitation at such kiosks," she said.

The municipal corporation had distributed sanitised gloves to a few roadside eatery owners in March. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena himself distributed the gloves at the Unit-I market. "The kiosk owners used it for a few days and then did away with it," said GGP Colony resident Sthitaprajna Mohanty.

She said the sustained use of sanitised hand gloves could have been ensured by regular checks by the civic body teams. However, the corporation has just one food inspector for monitoring the quality of food across the city.

Jena said there was only one food inspector, entrusted with the job of checking standard of food being dished out at these eateries. He said more food inspectors would be appointed and a proposal had been sent to the health and family welfare department. The lone food inspector also issues licences and renews them. According to a civic official, the inspector is already overburdened and it is tough for one person to conduct checks to ascertain the quality of food. He said the inspector also held the additional charge of Ganjam district.

Gupchup seller at Unit-I market Shankar Behera said the sanitised hand gloves distributed by the civic body were not convenient for use in summer.

Baramunda resident G.C. Mohanty said the civic body should train roadside food kiosk owners on ways to ensure hygiene during cooking and sale of food. "Food items that are exposed to dust and contaminated water pose threat of gastroenteritis and jaundice. Though jaundice has been prevented as of now, hygiene of food being sold at the roadside eateries should be checked regularly," he said.