Officials turn a blind eye as vendors sell unhygienic food items

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 10

In blatant disregard for food safety standards, the sale of unhygienic food items/snacks continues unabated at the city bus stand. As there is barely any check by the health department, shopping vends and kiosk owners are selling eatables in unhygienic conditions to passengers and visitors.

The matter has been highlighted in these columns earlier also but the authorities concerned failed to take concrete steps to check the practice.

A visit to the city bus stand revealed that food items/snacks and sweets on stalls are not covered properly with flies and rats making their presence felt, making the passengers buying these edibles vulnerable to diseases.

Gurpreet Singh, a passenger, said, “Shopkeepers at the city bus stand show scant regard for the health of the buyers as despite reminding them to cover the food items, they do not follow the advice. Their indifferent attitude can be attributed to the fact that no action is taken against them. There is no deterrence because of which passengers are at the receiving end.”

A group of passengers said, “The sale of food items under unhygienic conditions has been continuing for years now. Passengers are often not aware about the hygiene standards of food served at the bus stand. Moreover, the shopkeepers also charge exorbitantly for these unhygienic food items.”

A PRTC employee, requesting anonymity, said the oil used for frying food items is stale most of the time. Even the water used for washing utensils and preparing food items appears to be contaminated. All this puts a question mark over the policies of the Health Department.

District Health Officer Dr Ashok Monga could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.