Right after Asr prayers, the whole city livens centring around "Iftar business," with vendors disregarding the country's laws and buyers not caring about hygiene standards and the quality of the foods.
A visit to various parts of the city revealed that street vendors, taking advantage of Ramadan, attempt to make money by selling unhygienic Iftar items against the law, with consumers unaware of the actual quality of the foods being sold to them.
On the city's Easkaton road, street food vendors were selling items from makeshift Iftar shops, three feet from a dustbin.
Roadside food vendors Nabil, Sohel and Kamarul have been making Iftar items on gas stoves set up close to a drain. Insects such as flies were sitting on items, while several people were buying from them, overlooking important factors such as hygiene and quality.
The story of food adulteration does not just end here as some dishonest vendors prepare items for Iftar with used cooking oil.
Admitting the crime, street vendors Swapan and Kamal said, "We sell food at low prices. If we use new oil every day, it will increase the price of food. People will not buy food from here at a high price, rather they will prefer restaurants."
Shohag, a vendor in city's Hatirpul area, said he does it for money and though it requires a small amount of start-up capital, around Tk800-Tk1,200 can be earned daily.
Even though many buyers face problems after ingesting roadside food items, they said they were helpless because of its attractiveness and low cost.
Aslam, a rickshaw puller, said: "I do not have money to buy food from big hotels."
Meanwhile, an employee of a private firm, named Jalil, posed a question: "Is there any guarantee that the big hotels prepare healthy foods as well?"
"We watch on television how big hotels prepare food in unhygienic places," he added.
The government should ensure pure food for everybody, said another buyer Abul Hossain.
Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) officials said, from July 10 to July 22 mobile courts fined over Tk3.5m to hundreds of organisations regarding such matters, adding that under the pure food ordinance, 52 cases were filed.
Brigadier General Md Abdullah-Al-Harun, chief health officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, said: "Proper implementation of law and more active involvement of law enforcement agencies could be a good solution to end the sale of unhygienic roadside food."
However, these actions will be more successful, if buyers are aware of the potential health risks, he added.
