BENGALURU: Licences of 15 eateries across the city have been cancelled so far this month by the civic agency after they were found to flout rules. The food inspection of restaurants, eateries, bars and clubs, which should have been conducted by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from February to April, had been kept on hold due to elections. As of now, inspection of around 5,000 eateries, including bakeries, is pending.
“We are conducting inspections this month since there was a delay due to elections. Fifteen trade licences were cancelled due to unhygienic kitchen,” Manoranjan Hegde, chief health officer, BBMP, told City Express.
Five out of the 15 affected eateries - Andhra Ruchulu, Panjabi Nawabi, Box 8, Ruh and Annan’s Mess -were in Mahadevapura, while three were in Dasarahalli.
The rest are spread over other parts of the city. In the East, two were shut down in CV Raman Nagar. Over 20 notices were issued to several eateries.
“The kitchen was very dirty and the cooked food was left open. There was also no segregation of dry and wet waste,” Kalpana, deputy health officer, BBMP, Mahadevpura, said.
“Moreover, the cooks did not take proper care of themselves, and many had not cut their nails. We have shut these places down,” she added.
After a week, if the establishments approach the authorities after rectifying the issues, they will conduct another inspection. Based on that, they will decide whether their licence can be returned. The move was initiated after issuing notices to each eatery.
“Generally, unhygienic kitchens are seen in small eateries. They do not have a dishwasher to keep the utensils clean,” said Surendra, medical officer of health, BBMP, adding that Dasarahalli zone conducts regular inspections.
One of the restaurants in the list of closed establishments was, however, seen to be functioning in Bellandur area. When informed about it, Kalpana replied, “If the eatery is running without our knowledge, it will be shut down immediately..