The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Thursday conducted food safety drives in the city while BJP and Congress party workers had staged a protest near the civic body headquarters in relation to the carcass meat supply case.
The KMC on Thursday conducted food safety drives in several areas in the city, mainly in Esplanade and EM Bypass stretch. The health officials raided several shops including branded food chains and collected food samples.
Speaking on the matter,Mr Atin Ghosh, member mayorin- council (MMIC), health, said: “We have raided areas of EM Bypass and Esplanade where we collected several samples of meat products. Many of the products have also been destroyed. We will send the samples to state forensic department for further tests in the laboratories. It is a matter of food safety for citizens and we will take all necessary measures required to deal with the issue.”
An official of the health department stated that the food safety laws have to be made stricter as the ones under the FSSAI act aren’t strict as the ones under the IPC. The Enforcement Branch can deal with such food safety matters in stricter ways.
In responding to carcass meat being supplied from garbage dumps to markets, Mr Ghosh said: “The Dhapa dumping ground is safe as there are CCTV cameras installed there while biometric is needed to enter the premises. In addition to that there is a crematorium where such animal carcasses are burnt to ashes immediately hence eliminating chances of them getting outside the dump yard premises to the markets.”
The BJP party workers meanwhile staged a demonstration near the civic body headquarters and demanded immediate probe into such matters while blaming the civic body for not putting enough efforts to curb the menace. One of them demanded CBI probe into the matter.