Soul of Mumbai – The famous dabbawallah is now being endangered, From 5,000 dabbawalas working in the company, now they stand at just over 100 – 500.
The dabbawala network works as a chain system, where they are divided into branches of workers. during the first wave of the pandemic, local trains were shut for dabbawalas, making it impossible for them to reach their designated assembly point.
The business has been most severely hit in the past nine months. From delivering 25 tiffin boxes a day, these gallant workers now manage only about 4-5 deliveries. Some claim their monthly earnings have dipped from Rs 15,000 to Rs 5,000.
Dabbawalas have been struggling for quite some time. The food delivery startups have taken up a large portion of the market. Many dabbawallas even don’t have smartphones, the complete offline system of Dabbawalas is struggling.
According to media reports, now many dabbawalas left this work and started working as security guards, waiters, or delivery guys from startups.
Dabbawala is facing a tough time and they are in an endangered category if dabbawala vanishes from Mumbai so Mumbai will use one of its’ hallmarks and charms.
What do you think, will dabbawalas be able to survive?