No 'dabbawala' service in rain-hit Mumbai today

Mumbai : The ‘dabbawalas’ of Mumbai today cancelled their delivery of over two lakh tiffins to office- goers in the city in view of the disruption of suburban rail services after heavy rains. The tiffin delivery men use suburban trains to ensure the lunch boxes reach their destination on time.

“The over 5,000 ‘dabbawalas’, who deliver around two lakh ‘dabbas’ (tiffins) a day won’t be able to do so today due to disruption of train services after heavy rains,” Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association said.

“We will resume our services tomorrow,” he said. The three railway lines – Western, Central and Harbour – that link 70 stations, ensure that lunch boxes travel from the farthest northern suburbs to business areas on the southern tip of the city within a maximum of two hours, Talekar said.

The tiffin delivery men, most of who come from villages around Pune, had on August 9 taken a day off to join the Maratha reservation rally here and to express solidarity with the movement for demanding reservation to Maratha community in jobs and education.

After incessant rains in Mumbai on August 29, dabbawalas had suspended their services the next day. The dabbawallas pride themselves on the ‘deliver on time’ motto, irrespective of Mumbai’s heat or heavy rains.