No 'dabbawala' service in rain-hit Mumbai today

Mumbai : Mumbai’s famed ‘dabbawalas’ today cancelled their delivery of over two lakh tiffins to office goers in the city in view of the disruption of suburban rail services. Dabbawalas, who had ventured out on their task yesterday, returned home only this morning after being stranded at railway stations.

“The over 5,000 ‘dabbawalas’ who deliver around two lakh ‘dabbas’ (tiffins) a day won’t be able to do so today as they returned only this morning after being stranded at railway stations,” Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association told PTI.

“We will resume our services tomorrow,” he said. The tiffin delivery men use suburban trains to ensure the lunch boxes reach their destinations on time. The three railway lines – Western, Central and Harbour – that link 70 stations, ensure that the lunch boxes travel from the farthest northern suburbs to the 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, are from the Maratha community. On August 9, the ‘Dabbawalas’ took 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. The dabbawallas pride themselves on the ‘deliver on time’ motto, irrespective of Mumbai’s heat or heavy rains.