'Will not open restaurants in this scenario, don't want to take a risk'

Small restaurants say it is not viable for them to keep their establishments open. FILE PIC

Although the state government has allowed restaurants to resume business at half capacity, owners of small restaurants in the city are having a hard time coming up with a workable model that incorporates the government's guidelines and keeps their business afloat. Working at half capacity, many say, is not viable. Most of the city's smaller restaurants are located in crowded and narrow lanes and operating them amid COVID-19 protocols is difficult.

Over 50 per cent of such small restaurants will remain closed.

One of the biggest problems is the half capacity clause, which won't be enough to recover the overhead costs of the restaurants.

Sunil Patil, vice-president of Aahar Sanghatana that has over 800 city restaurants as its members, said, "Who can afford 50 per cent income but 100 per cent expenses? Many small hoteliers are confused about reopening."

"We requested the state government for financial packages for us. We also requested the BMC, the licencing department, the food department to waive off various charges like property tax, electric bills, but no response came," Patil added.

Patil added, "Most restaurants are old and people cannot afford to close them. They are providing home deliveries. But starting dine-in is too costly in the pandemic."

'COVID will spread faster'

Manoj Ghiroi, who is a partner in many restaurants in the city, said that reopening restaurants will make COVID-19 spread faster. "There have been reports that COVID cases increased in some countries after restaurants reopened. We will not open restaurants in this situation, we don't want to take a risk. In the beginning, we will only give food packets and later we will keep tables outside at a distance. We can serve people food in their cars too but we fear the BMC will trouble us over this."

A restaurant at Hill Road in Bandra. Pic/ Bipin Kokate

Ghiroi added, "The government has allowed us to operate at only half capacity. Most restaurants have smaller accommodations with only 10-15 seats. Due to less space, social distancing will be impossible. And while eating, customers will have to remove their masks. If anyone is infected with the virus, it will easily spread."

Also Read: Mumbai Unlock 5.0: What can't gyms do that restaurants and bars can do?

"Our staff will follow government guidelines but we don't have the history of customers' health. Our staff sleeps and works together. And if anyone gets the infection from a customer, we will have to shut down the hotel on the same day. These reasons make reopening impossible," Ghiroi said.

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