The roadside eateries near Fairlie Place, in the central business district of Calcutta, are usually crowded to the hilt during lunchtime on weekdays.

On Thursday afternoon, most of them were almost empty. Only a couple of stalls were busy. They sold fruit juices and lassi.

A vendor who normally sells parathas and seasonal curries on RN Mukherjee Road has switched to selling a mixture of curd and flattened rice.

The relentless spell of excessive heat has altered the eating habits of the office para, where hundreds of eateries usually satiate the hunger of tens of thousands of people every day.

Prabodh Mandal, who owns a bhaat-er hotel on the pavement along Fairlie Place, was fidgeting with his phone around 2pm on a working day last week. A couple of benches and a table, covered by a tarpaulin sheet, could accommodate eight to 10 people together. But it had only two when Metro visited the area.

“Usually, between 1pm and 3.30pm, I don’t have time to breathe because of the constant rush of customers. But people have almost stopped coming out because of this heat,” said Mandal, who has been running the stall for over 30 years.

Outside, the temperature had soared to 43 degrees Celsius around the same time. It was the hottest April day in 70 years in Calcutta.

Dalhousie and BBD Bag, part of the central business district of Calcutta, are known for roadside eateries. From railway offices to the high court and the Bankshall court, the area is home to hundreds of government and private offices.

From biryani to idli, chowmein to chhole bhature, the stalls sell everything. The stalls provide daily food to tens of thousands of office-goers and people who have to visit the area, as well as livelihood to hundreds who own and work at the stalls.

Most stall-owners said they witnessed a sharp dip in footfall. The deserted stalls on Dacres Lane, Fairlie Place, Bentinck Street, BB Ganguly Street and RN Mukherjee Road presented a picture that regulars are not familiar with.

Many vendors said they were procuring a fraction of the raw materials they usually would to offset a dip in the number of customers. But even then, a portion of what they sourced was being wasted every day.

“We usually need around 18kg of noodles every day. Now, we have reduced it to around 4kg. But a portion of the total stock is getting wasted every day,” said Swapan Patra, who cooks noodles, pasta, fried rice, chilli chicken and such fare on RN Mukherjee Road.

The noodles and rice have to be soaked in warm water. It cannot be used the next day, he said.

Jiten Prasad, who sells parathas on GC Avenue, near its intersection with Bentinck Street, has switched to chire-doi (a mix of flattened rice and curd), one of the few items that is selling briskly in the scorching conditions.

“In this heat, this is an ideal combination. I am having curd and fruits alternately. I am totally avoiding spicy food and drinking plenty of water,” said Debanjan Sarkar, who works in the customs office on Strand Road. He was eating chire-doi at another stall near Fairlie Place.

A stall on Dacres Lane, the famed “eat street” at Esplanade, sells milk, milk-based sweets and lassi throughout the year. On Thursday, during the 10 minutes Metro spent there, at least eight people drank lassi.

South Indian food, like idli and sada dosa, were still finding some takers.