Belapur Court Fines Vashi Momo Vendor Rs 1,000 for Roadside Open Fire

A 22-year-old street-food vendor operating in Vashi was fined Rs 1,000 by a local court after he pleaded guilty to using an open charcoal-and-stone fire on a roadside to cook momos and other items.

AA Babar, Judicial Magistrate First Class at Court No 3 in Belapur, imposed the fine on Thursday. The court also ordered five days of simple imprisonment if the vendor defaulted on paying the amount.

The case, which originated from an incident on May 4, highlights action initiated by the Navi Mumbai Police against street-food operators whose cooking setups posed public-safety hazards on roadsides.

The enforcement action was carried out before Maharashtra's recent statewide food-safety crackdown by authorities on food establishments and vendors.

Officials noted that the police intervention in the matter was specifically centred on mitigating public-safety risks caused by hazardous roadside cooking methods, rather than focusing solely on the hygiene or quality of the food being sold.