Team Herald
MARGAO: The Food and Drug Administration’s team of food safety officers on Tuesday inspected the stalls and kiosks at the Kadamba bus stand and found various violations by the establishments.
The team led by Senior Food Safety Officer Abel Rodrigues conducted the inspection in the presence of GOACAN volunteers of the kiosks and gaddas doing business of selling food items, snacks and soft drinks at the Margao KTC bus stand and found many violations.
The KTC Management will now need to answer and also make sure these violations do not occur again. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, as part of its “Back to Basics” campaign to focus on consumer amenities at KTC bus stands, GOACAN began the second phase from Road Safety to Food Safety with the inspection by officials of the Directorate of Food and Drug Administration at the Margao bus stand.
As GOACAN had received complaints from the consumers earlier, the FDA was requested to undertake the inspection so as to address the negligence on four issues viz non-display of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence, non-display of name, FSSAI registration number and mobile number of suppliers on the trays displaying eatable items, etc.; non-availability of Directorate of Health Services (DHS) Sanitary Cards in the name of staff operating the kiosks and non-availability of closed dustbins for food and packaging waste.
Moreover, it was noticed that not a single bin of the major soft drink brands and the packaged drinking water brands were found installed at the bus stand thereby creating a huge burden on the collection and disposal of plastic bottles and tetra pack.
GOACAN also noted the failure of the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) officials of maintaining the cleanliness of the bus stand as pan spitting was noticed on the walls. The bus stand has not been periodically washed, the dustbins provided were secured with string thereby allowing to fall with the wind, no drinking water has been provided for the commuters.
GOACAN has decided to write to the Chairman and Managing Director KTCL to monitor the food safety standards as prescribed by FSSAI at the bus stand as it used not only by the locals but also by domestic tourists proceeding to Konkan Railway and foreign tourists boarding buses to tourist spots like Agonda and Palolem. GOACAN will also write to the Health Officer Urban Health Centre, Margao to ensure the issuance of Health Cards to all staff/personnel working in these kiosks and to the Goa Waste Management Corporation to identify the bins required for this District level bus stand.