Most of the hotels and the restaurants still seem least bothered to improve the quality of food they offer, including hygiene and sanitation of the surrounding as well as their behavior toward the customers. [break]
Weary of highly priced low quality food served at these eateries, most of the commuters now to carry their food along with them.
"I stopped eating in these restaurants on the highway while traveling because they not only charge unscrupulously, but food they serve is often stale and very unhygienic," said Ram Chandra Joshi, a passenger bound to Dipayal from Kathmandu.
According to a rough estimate, 3 out of 4 commuters have already stopped eating in such restaurants because of the rude behaviors of the hoteliers and substandard of food they serve.
There are more than hundred eateries along the highway and 90 percent of their owners are from outside the district, and have formed a nexus among them to fix the price of menu. They are mostly from Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Tananhu, Chitwan, Lamjung, and Kathmandu.
The local residents are also not happy with the development.
"These hotels and restaurant mafias, who are duping the travelers, have ruined the reputation of our district," said a local of Dhading.
Government officials had begun monitoring the hotels along the highway two years ago after complaints about the excessively charged poor quality of food started to pour in.
It has been reported that a monitoring team comprising officials from the Dhading Food Rights District Network and the District Administration Office were even mistreated on Tuesday by the staff and owners of Chitwan Staff Hotel at Benighat, while they were inspecting the food items.
The team had inspected around a dozen of hotels and eateries operating along the Salanghat-Naubishe road section.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief District Officer Puspa Paudel said that the hotel and restaurant operators are gradually showing signs of improvement.
"Though they still serve low quality foods, they have now started to offer food menu. However, a lot more need to be accomplished," Paudel said.
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