PUNE: Eateries in the city dump over 150 tonnes of leftover food every day, or 54,000 tonnes a year — an amount that would be more than enough to save thousands of lives succumbing to malnutrition in the state.
In 2015-16, around 18,000 children in Maharashtra died because of hunger.
The Union government wants hotels and restaurants to mention the quantity of each serving or plate of food item in their menu in grams or number of pieces to stop food wastage.
While there has been mixed reaction to the Centre's initiative, the scene in the city is worrisome against the backdrop that over 93 lakh children across the country are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
"The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) collects around 125 tonnes of leftover food from eateries in the city every day. Big restaurants have their own processing units and they take care of the leftover food. This would be approximate 25 tonnes of leftover food," said Suresh Jagtap, head of the civic body's solid waste management.
According to a PMC estimate, the leftover food amounts to over 150 tonnes a day. The quantity was about 140 tonnes a day five years ago. However, these are official figures. There are thousands of small eateries that are not registered with the PMC and the civic body is unaware of the quantity of leftover food in those outlets.
"Nobody wants to waste food. But there are many restaurants that make it a must to order a mini 'thali' even for children. These restaurants do not allow sharing of 'thali'," said Sayali Kulkarni, a homemaker. In the "plate system", a hotel or a restaurant normally does not specify how much food it serves, like the number of "chapatis" or the amount of rice.
Yogesh Patil, a professional, said, "The quantity of food is sometimes heavy, but most restaurants don't allow you to order per person. Every time you cannot take a parcel of leftover food." He said the Centre's move to tackle the wastage of food was "a positive move".
Ganesh Shetty, president of the Pune Hoteliers Association, has a different take on the issue. " There are very less chances of leftover food wastage in most restaurants in the city. Dishes are prepared as per orders. We also suggest customers to take home leftover food," he said.