NASHIK, July 15, 2013: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has started inspecting hotels and eateries across the city to check the quality of the food being served.

FDA Nashik division's joint commissioner Chandrakant Pawar told TOI, "We had conducted a primary inspection of 15 eateries and hotels last week and will now speed up the drive, which will continue until all the eating places in the city are checked."

Pawar added that the health of the lakhs of devotees coming to the city for the Kumbh Mela would be the FDA's priority. "Apart from checking the quality of food in the eateries, we will also check how clean the kitchens in these places are. Hotels where unhygienic conditions are found will be served improvement notices and we will take action against the eateries that do not show improvement even after that."

The Nashik divisional office of FDA includes five districts - Nashik, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar. As per the new food and safety act, businesses with a turnover of more than Rs 12 lakh need to procure a licence, while those with a lesser turnover only need to get registered. The yearly fee for a licence is Rs 2,000, while businesses seeking to get registered are charged Rs 100.

During the period from August 5, 2011 to March 31, 2013, the total number of businesses registered across the divisions reached 33,094, while the total number of licensed businesses reached 14,819, fetching Rs 7.63 crore.
 

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 15, 2013.