Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 (FSA) had undermined the civic body’s powers to check the quality of food

 Source:http://www.thehindu.com

The issue of food safety dominated the discussions at a meeting of the Corporation council here on Friday.

In an emergency resolution, councillor from Thoppayil T. Sujan said the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 (FSA) had undermined the civic body’s powers to check the quality of food served in hotels.

“It needed to be studied whether the newly formed Food Safety Commissionerate was functioning effectively. There were only 10 Food Safety Officers for the entire district under the Commissionerate whereas when it was handled by the Corporation’s health committee, there were 63 health inspectors. Under the Act, the licensing for hotels had become universally valid nullifying the existing local licensing requirements,” said Mr. Sujan. N.C. Moinkutty, councillor from Azhchavattom, alleged that the resolution was aimed at concealing the Corporations failings in ensuring food safety. Though the Corporation’s health inspectors had conducted raids, no action was taken, he said. All hotels which were working in unhygienic conditions and without licences should be closed down, he demanded.

 Deputy Mayor P.T. Abdul Latheef of the CPI (M) said the notification for the FSA came only in August 2011 during the time of the UDF government, in reply to the allegation by the Opposition members that the LDF government had given assent to the Bill when it was introduced in 2006. The emergency resolution was put to vote after the Opposition demanded the removal of the parts criticising the government and was passed without any changes with 36 votes against 33. Vellayil councillor K. Mohammedali, in a calling-attention motion, raised the issue of impure water being transported from the Mananchira pond. A news channel had reported recently that the water contained coliform bacteria, 40 per cent above the permissible limit, in a test conducted by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM). More than 90 per cent of the juice shops and restaurants in the city used this water, he said. Mayor A.K. Premajam, in her reply to the motion, said it was the responsibility of the water authority to supply clean water. Still, the Corporation’s health committee had, with the help of the CWRDM, tested the Mananchira pond water in April this year, anticipating the water scarcity in the summer months.

“The amount of coliform bacteria was found to be below the permissible limits in the test. But the CWRDM had given a ‘not satisfactory’ report and suggested the usage of bleaching powder to treat the water.

Since there was no mechanism currently to treat water, the individuals who were drawing water from the pond were provided with bleaching powder. We are planning to implement a mechanism to pump chlorine gas into the pond and treat the water,” said the Mayor.