Local bodies have intensified their drive against unhygienic conditions in hotels and against those serving stale food, this time netting some big players too.
During the search conducted by Maradu Municipality, five hotels were found to have violated the rules. This included four main hospitality players in the city. During checks at the Food Court of Abad Nucleus Mall, Le Meridien, BTH Sarovaram, Wyte Fort and Kitchen Castle, municipal authorities found old food refrigerated for periods longer than is allowed.
“Out of these hotels, BTH Sarovaram was found to be committing the offence repeatedly and so notice was issued for cancelling their permit. Wyte Fort was detected to have violated the rule for the second time and was fined Rs.6,010. Both Le Meridien and Kitchen Castle at Nettoor were first time offenders and were fined Rs.4,510 each. The case of Abad Nucleus Mall food court is under study and a decision will be taken on Saturday,” said S. Jayakumar, municipal secretary.
In hotels that served non-vegetarian food, the authorities detected fried chicken, fish curry, vegetable curries, noodles and other food material that was kept in cold storage past permissible amounts of time. Authorities spotted small idlis that were kept refrigerated for a long period, besides different types of chutney and dal curry among material seized and destroyed from BTH Sarovaram.
Aluva municipal authorities conducted checks at 13 different hotels within Aluva town limits and closure notices were issued to nine of them. The hotels that were served notices were Hotel Ceylon, Best Hotel, Hotel Sapphire, Hotel Navratna, Shenoy Hotel, KSRTC canteen, Vinayaka Hotel, Hotel Breeze and Kamala Vilas Hotel.
All these hotels have been given 15 days’ time to respond to closure notices issued after invoking section 447 of the Municipality Act of 1994. Most of the hotels searched were found to be reusing cooking oil beyond allowed limits. Other stale food seized from these hotels included beef, chicken, fish curry, curd, fungus-infested quail meat, sour dough for dosa, and porotta.
However, the Kochi Corporation restricted its searches to primary checking with 21 circles. “After the search was extended to the late hours on Thursday, only primary checking was done on Friday. During the search, Sannidhi Café at T.D. East Sannidhi road was found to be violating rules and was hence closed down by around 2 p.m.,” said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of standing committee for health.
The searches will continue after the hotels and restaurants reopen after the strike called Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association on Saturday, he said.
