kochi/kottayam: It was meant to be a clean sweep: Health department officials fanned out in Kochi and Kottayam on Friday, raiding eateries and food stalls and ordering the closure of unhygienic hotels and food joints. The major casualty turned out to be the canteen at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) which the squad, led by district medical officer (DMO), Dr Hazeena Muhammad, ordered to be closed for poor hygiene.
The inspection was conducted by 32 squads as part of a state-level ‘Safe Kerala’ programme. The squad in Kochi also served closure notice on two other eateries while two hotels were asked to improve hygiene and quality standards. As part of the crackdown on eateries that serve unsafe food and function in unhygienic conditions, the special squads of the health department inspected hotels in different parts of Kochi. In other parts of the district, 12 hotels, two canteens and a soda manufacturing unit have been asked to shut down. Improvement notice was served on 196 eateries.
The special squad inspected 555 eateries in the district, including 326 hotels, 140 bakeries, 33 cool bars, 15 catering units, 21 soda manufacturing units, six toddy shops and 11 small shops. District rural health officer P.N. Sreenivasan, medical officers, health inspectors, junior health inspectors and technical assistants were also in the inspection team.
If the eateries fail to improve hygiene standards, raids will continue in the coming days, said the DMO. In Kottayam, three hotels functioning in the district were closed down following the raids by health department officials. DMO, Dr Iysha Bhai, told DC that three hotels functioning in Kottayam district were closed after they were found wanting in hygiene.
According to the officials, the kitchen of the closed hotels were functioning in an unhygienic environment, and there was lack of proper facilities to dispose of the waste water from the hotels. Dr Iysha Bhai added that the hotels were served notices and asked to take corrective measures. The closed hotels will be opened only after fresh inspections, she added. The raids were conducted in 866 places, including hotels, shops, soda making units, bakeries and ice plants in Kottayam.
