A stain on Wembley’s streets

Paan and gutka spitting challenged with new community-led campaign

Rupanjana Dutta Tuesday 16th April 2019 13:03 EDT
 
 

People who spit paan on the streets of Wembley faced a rude awakening this weekend. Local volunteers, together with councillors, launched a campaign with two days of action to tackle the problem of paan spitting in the area.

Paan is a leaf-based mixture, popular in Asia, which is customarily chewed and spat out. When it dries, the gutka tobacco leaves a dark red, blood-like stain on pavements which is difficult and costly to remove. Brent Council spends around £30,000 getting rid of paan stains each year.

To tackle the problem, volunteers took to the streets of Wembley last weekend (April 13 and 14) to talk to local people and businesses about the environmental, health and hygiene implications of public paan spitting and drum up support for the new Brent Paan Action Network.

The volunteers were supported by street cleaning and enforcement teams from Brent Council. Enforcement patrols have been stepped up, with public paan spitters facing on-the-spot fines of £100, while the pavements of Ealing Road and Wembley High Road were jet washed by Veolia to remove the existing stains.

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Lead Member for Environment, said: "Paan and gutka spitting is disgusting and a stain on our community. It costs Brent council £30,000 a year to clean up these stains and at a time where our budget has been slashed by 79%, this money could be used on more vital services for our residents. We want people to love where they live and work."

The campaign is supported by the Brent Indian Association, Diu Kadia Nyati Samaj UK, Bharatvasi On Duty, Federation of Patidar Associations, and Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir, a Hindu temple in Wembley which is beset by paan stains.

But speaking to Asian Voice, Pankaj Shah owner of the Panachand Pan House in Wembley's Ealing Road told the newsweekly that there are several posters on the window of their shop to ask people not to spit on the roads, but people don't care. “They even spit on the posters and go. I have been around for 32 years. More than 20 years there have been no spitting on the streets. These are new Asian immigrants and in the country for no more than 5 years.”

When asked if they have complained to the council, he added, “Yes many times. The wardens used to fine but the councils took them off in a month. If they were there for 6 months or a year, it would have been effective.”


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