Plight of pani puri vendors

The writing on the wall is scary and obvious: Your favourite snack, pani puri will not be available in the city as its vendors may soon run out of business. What once was an occupation with over 300 families involved, the number of pani puri vendors in the Twin Cities has reduced to a meagre 40 units over the past ten years. The sad reason is low profit margins.

Vendors from Ganga Nagar, Amberpet and Golnaka inform that the demand for the puris has reduced drastically. In spite of increase in the cost of living and the puri’s ingredients, a packet of 100 puris is still sold for mere Rs 40; this makes it difficult for vendors to make ends meet.

Consequently, most families, who cannot keep up with daily distribution of packets, are moving away to more lucrative businesses leaving a gaping hole in availability of puris across the city. Our lensman Srinivas Setty captures the plight of a family of four including a child toiling their way with bare necessities and making puris to make ends meet.