Nagpur: Search of 51 panipuriwalas, fine of 1 lakhs collected leader

Nagpur; Leading News Service: After the death of a Kashmiri student who had come to Nagpur for nursing education due to contaminated panipuri, the panipuri sellers are being hunted down in the sub-capital. On behalf of the Food and Drug Administration Department, raids were conducted at 51 vendors selling Panipuri on the roadside or in the open in various parts of the city. A fine of Rs 1 lakh was collected from the violators in 33 cases.

Inquiring whether these vendors have FDA license? Other checks like cleanliness of the vendor, quality of various food items and payment of raw materials from the concerned vendor were also conducted. Not only this, 25 to 30 percent of the vendors without licenses were asked to shut down the business immediately. It was clarified that the concerned can resume business with an annual fee of Rs.100 for resumption of business. The food sellers were also instructed on how to keep an eye on various things while selling the goods. Accordingly, maintenance of cleanliness, proper storage of raw materials by payment from the shopkeeper, provision of clean water along with quality food to the customers were included among others.

Suresh Annapure, Joint Commissioner (Food), Food and Drug Administration informed that 51 Panipuri sellers were inspected in the city by ‘FDA’ and a fine of 98 thousand was levied in 33 cases.