As a customer to an Aavin booth in R.S. Puram showed that it served as a roadside mess. It is like a canteen where staff employed in commercial establishments visit to take short breaks from their work for a cup of tea. What draws crowd in huge numbers to this booth is the availability of short-eats all through the day.

As per a Right to Information (RTI) petition filed in 2015, it is learnt that there are 63 Aavin booths in Coimbatore. Necessary permissions have been obtained to operate nine more booths. That brings the total to 72 booths in the city. Out of these, a few of the booths are under direct control of Aavin, while others have been opened as franchisees by Aavin.

The Coimbatore depot of Aavin produces milk and milk products on a daily basis. These products are sold in the Aavin booths. On a daily basis about one-and-a-half-lakh litres of milk packets are produced at this depot and a majority of this is sold. We are informed that about 40,000 litres of milk is converted into by-products like curd, buttermilk, butter, ghee, milk khoa, milk peda, and flavoured milk that is sold in the Aavin booths that are located in and around the city.

However, alongside these by-products, South Indian short eats and even packed meals are sold at these booths. This, according to a city-based activist is a clear violation. “When licences are issued to franchise owners, they are clearly told that they cannot sell any other products apart from brand Aavin. However, violations are happening in almost every Aavin booth and in the open. It is anyone’s guess why officials are not reacting.”

Upon asking the franchise owner at R.S. Puram if it is permitted to sell stuff apart from Aavin products he replied: “I sell these products because of demand from the public. A majority of my customers are office goers and they prefer to eat Indian snacks along with refreshments.”

During Post Office hours the place surrounding this Aavin booth is littered with newspapers and the stray dogs feed upon the food littered on the road. The street where this Aavin booth is located falls under Ward 23. It is in fact is one of the first streets that was chosen for the implementation of the zero waste management – Shunya projects.

It must be noted that just a little away from this Aavin booth is located the R.S. Puram Head Post Office that has a canteen in its premises. This canteen sells a range of short-eats, breakfast and lunch on all working days for a reasonable cost. The Aavin franchise owner’s justification that the demand from the public has prompted him to make and sell short-eats and packed food does not hold water.

Aavin officials were unavailable for comment.