DC impact: Food safety officials raid canteens in bus depot

The food safety department sent a notice to all the bus depots and the Managing Director of MTC, mandating on some factors.

Chennai: After DC exposed the ugly state of canteens for drivers and conductors inside the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus depots, officials from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) conducted raids following which startling details were revealed, a major one of them being non-procurement of license.

The officials inspected all the bus depots out of which Ayanavaram, Adyar, Vadapalani, Tondiarpet and Kodungaiyur in Chennai district and Thiruvottriyur bus depot in Tiruvallur district were found to be flouting norms blatantly.

“Neither of the canteens at bus depots is registered nor do they have a license. A certificate from FSSAI, which is mandatory to run a canteen, is also missing. We have given a grace period of 15 days, after which all the canteens will be checked again,” said R. Kathiravan, Designated Officer, FSSAI.

The food safety department sent a notice to all the bus depots and the Managing Director of MTC, mandating on some factors – Repainting of walls, provision of an outlet for smoke, cleanliness of the kitchen, fitness certificate, gloves and a cap to the chef and server, drinking water facility with government certificate, disposal of food waste within a day, tiles laid on all the floors and proper maintenance of hygiene. 

In the notice sent to the Tiruvallur bus depot on July 4, provision of Reverse Osmosis (RO) at the canteen was specially mentioned and asked the MD to provide it within 15 days.

The issue started in June this year when the secretary of Nethaji Transport Union, K Anbazhagan’s complaint about poor hygiene at canteens in bus depots, was refused by the superintendent of the Chrompet bus depot. Later, he sent a mail to the FSSAI and three collectors of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.

“I knew there was something fishy from the beginning. How could the government permit the contractors to take over without a licence? Shortly, I will file a case in the High Court regarding this,” he said. The Managing Director of MTC who was hesitant to comment on the issue said he will try to better the plight of canteens at the earliest.