Chhath Puja: KMC to be on alert till 10 Nov
With Chhath Puja round the corner, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is gearing up for the upcoming festival.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is conducting raids against unlicensed vendors who are selling packaged water without the food safety stamp of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The move comes after the civic body traced contamination inside packaged water sold in diarrhoea affected areas which allegedly has led to the diarrhoea outbreak.
The KMC has recently begun food safety drives to stop the sale of packaged water by unlicensed vendors after around 3000 citizens fell ill with diarrhoea. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee claimed around 200 samples of water were collected from different areas in the city and the packaged water showed signs of contamination.
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The mayor said, “The diarrhoea outbreak was clearly a result of a water-borne disease. We are carrying out raids with the help of the enforcement department.
Our aim is to seize water packages that are being sold by the unlicensed vendors. Most of these water packages are manufactured in various areas in North and South 24 Parganas.
Strict legal action will be taken against the offenders.” The member mayor-in-council (MMIC), Health, Atin Ghosh said, “The food safety raids are part of our routine work.
“Packaged water samples collected from places like Ranikuthi, Baghajatin Station Road, and few of the affected wards revealed the presence of Coliform bacteria in high amounts. We are cracking down on the unlicensed water vendors who are selling such spurious water without FSSAI.
The contamination is mostly found in 20litres jars.” “The names of some of the unlicensed suppliers and vendors who are distributing these samples have been collected and will be sent to the state food safety commission.
Legal action will be taken against the offenders . We have also requested the enforcement department to monitor such illegal activities in the districts” said Mr Ghosh.
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