Tirupati: The temple city which got the Smart City tag recently is gearing up to be a clean city as well. As part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati is conducting raids and checks on hotels and roadside eateries to verify their hygiene. Under the supervision of MCT health officer Dr P. Ushakumari the sanitation and health officials have taken up a special drive over the last fortnight to check cleanliness in hotels. Several eateries were seized for failing to meet the standards.
The temple city which is visited by thousands of pilgrims everyday has hundreds of hotels and roadside eateries which function round-the-clock at some places. Most of them charge an exorbitant price of ' 30 to '50 for a plate of two idlis. Roadside eateries cater to those who cannot afford the high prices. There is criticism from several quarters that the health department targets roadside eateries and ignores big hotels.
The MCT team which inspected well-known hotels like Bhimas found the kitchen to be unhygienic but it was let off with an oral warning. Roadside eateries are penalised for similar infarctions. A big hotel located in front of the railway station dumps waste and used plantain leaves in the Govindarajaswamy temple tank, which has became a dumping yard. Asked about this, Dr Ushakumari said the teams would not spare any hotel if it does not maintain hygiene.
“Recently we conducted checks on the hotels located from Bhavaninagar to Nandi Circle and closed down those which did not have licenses. We have warned some hotels to maintain cleanliness and gave them three days to rectify the problems. We will not spare even star hotels if they don't maintain cleanliness in their kitchens,” she said.
