Long distance truckers, especially those from the northern States, who depend upon roadside dhabas for food are clamouring for their reopening in Telangana. The roadside eateries in the State have been shut down in view of the lockdown while they remain open in other States.
“Entering Telangana means no food for about 500 km,” complained Rizwan Ahmad, a lorry driver transporting vehicle spare parts from somewhere in the National Capital Region. “Often, we cross over into Telangana in the small hours and rest before eating at the roadside dhaba at Seetagondi in Adilabad district,” he added.
The most important north-south link — the NH 44, which is the longest national highway connecting Kashmir with Kanyakumari — passes through Telangana. All the south bound traffic enters the State though the inter-State border of Telangana with Maharashtra on the Penganga river bridge and all the north bound traffic exits Telangana through the same bridge.
The road side eateries in Adilabad district can be found only about 35 km inside the border, at Seetagondi in Gudihatnoor mandal. There are some five dhabas there, three close to Gudihatnoor-Utnoor X road, a couple of them each at Ichoda, Neredigonda mandal headquarters and Koratikal in Neredigonda mandal in Adilabad district besides, the two at Burugupalli crossing and one near Nirmal in that district.
Lockdown nightmare
Suresh Pal, a long distance driver from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh recalled the nightmarish experience during the lockdown. “We were stuck at Seetagondi without food for three days following orders for closure of dhabas,” he said.
The experience taught him to carry with him a cooking kit consisting of a small kerosene stove, five kg of wheat flour, some lentils and all other ingredients. “With this, the three member crew in my lorry can manage for three days,” he pointed out.
Many truckers from Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala carry the cooking kits. But dhabas need to be opened keeping in the mind the majority hailing from other States need dhabas to eat.
