Old vans revamped as canteens on wheels for cops

Mumbai: In order to provide healthy and hearty food to on-duty policemen, the Mumbai police has given a makeover to eight of its old blue vans to turn them into mobile canteens. The vans — which will move across the city to cater to policemen on bandobast duty — will carry pre-cooked food that will be offered at subsidised rates to policemen and accommodate around six officers, who can sit and tuck into their meals.

A brainchild of Mumbai commissioner of police D.D. Padasalgikar, the initiative aims to address health concerns of the policemen including those related to unavailability of healthy, hygienic food while at work. The vans will have a cook, a man who can serve meals, a washbasin and cooking facilities as well. A total of 100 policemen have died since 2014 because of heart attacks. After conducting several check-ups on police officers, it has been seen that owing to their unhealthy diet they face a slew of health issues.

DCP Rashmi Karandkar said, “We conduct medical camps and counselling. For the past few years we have had a cashless treatment scheme for five health issues. Long duty hours have been a major factor contributing to stress, so the Mumbai police reduced those hours to eight. To deal with the diet issue, these vehicles will deliver food to police officers at the spots where they have been posted for duty.” These vans have been allotted specific areas where they will ply throughout the day and night to provide food to the police.