With the coronavirus pandemic taking over the lives of millions around the globe, it has become increasingly evident that there is an urgent need to scale the hygienic conditions of eateries, now more than ever.
However, a recent probe found food joints prevailing with unethical methods of serving customers.
Popular biryani spots of Hyderabad, Bawarchi, and New Astoria of RTC ‘X’ roads have been penalized by the GHMC for unclean and illegal practices.
Hotel Bawarchi has come under the radar for cooking unstamped meat considered extremely unhealthy while New Astoria Restaurant has been fined for keeping the eatery unhygienic and not following any cleanliness guidelines in their kitchen.
The tons of complaints regarding the horrendous conditions of three restaurants- Café Bahar, Hotel Bawarchi, and New Astoria Restaurant– triggered the investigation for which GHMC’s medical officers reached the hotels accompanied by food Inspectors.
After their probe, they fined Bawarchi and New Astoria a sum of Rs. 25,000 each as the former was found using mainly unstamped meat for its orders while the latter for providing an unhealthy meal to customers through their dirty maintenance of the kitchen, an official said.
It is compulsory for all hotels, function halls, restaurants, cafes, and any other public-service establishment to buy meat only from GHMC slaughterhouses as they are stamped. Unstamped meat is the one procured from dead or sick sheep that can lead to degradation of health, food poisoning, and many other illnesses.
“During our inspection, we noticed that the managements were procuring a limited quantity of stamped meat and using more quantity of unstamped meat. There was a lot of variation in the bills produced and the meat available on the premises,” the official added.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation urged residents of the state to insist and buy only stamped meat from all retail stores present in societies, colonies, etc. as consumption of unstamped meat would mean eating a deceased animal. This unstamped meat is brought from unauthorized dealers as it is available at a lesser price point.
Last year in January, Bawarchi was seized by the GHMC for not installing vermicompost units in its premise despite several notices from the department.
As part of the measures adopted to reduce garbage for its effective handling, the Solid Waste Management states the need for all hotels, etc. to install vermicompost units for availing vermicompost at a later stage, thereby changing trash to a useful commodity.
However, when Bawarchi was found ignoring the rules even after sufficient time was provided for it, the municipal corporation seized the spot. It produces nearly 100 kgs of waste every day.
The eatery installed the vermicompost by night but wasn’t allowed to open their hotel till the next day.
