May 15, 2017

About 80 unhygienic eateries closed in Ernakulam

KOCHI: In a major crackdown on unhygienic eateries, the district administration has closed down 79 food joints in the Kalamassery, Aluva and Thrikkakara municipal areas.
The special squads constituted by District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla had conducted inspections at hotels, bakeries and wayside eateries as part of the one-week drive, which was launched in the wake of reports of epidemic outbreak in the district.
As per the data from the district administration, the maximum number of eateries were closed down in the Kalamassery municipal area, where over 40 cases of Hepatitis A were reported recently.
Of the 91 eateries inspected in Kalamassery municipality, 37 were closed down and five were removed. As many as 25 eateries were closed down in Aluva, which is fast turning into a migrant hub. In Thrikkakara municipality, the team inspected 109 shops and closed around 17 food joints and removed 26 wayside eateries.
“We have issued stop memos to the eateries that had been functioning in unhygienic conditions, operating without obtaining licence from the local bodies and employed workers without health cards. Many illegal wayside eateries were removed during the drive,” said District Health Officer P N Sreenivasan, who coordinated the drive. 
The District Collector, who is also the chairman of the District Disaster management Authority, had last week formed the special squad comprising Revenue, municipality, health, police and food safety officers after cases of jaundice, diphtheria, hepatitis, dengue and H1N1 were reported from various parts of the district.
The squads were empowered under Sections 30(5), 30(20) and 33 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to inspect eateries, including bakeries and hotels.
“We will intensify the inspections in the coming days and action will be taken against offenders based on the Municipal Food Safety rules. The drive is part of the preventive measures to check the spread of epidemics before the onset of monsoon,” the District Collector said.
Raids at food joints
Kalamassery
Inspected 91
Closed 37
Removed 5
Aluva
Inspected 74
Closed 25
Removed nil
Thrikkakara
Inspected 109
Closed 17
Removed 26

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