The Times of India 29.01.2010
Hotels want grace' time from Corpn
CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation's continuous efforts to crack down on hotels being run unhygienically have had an impact. Many hotel associations have sought a week's time, in advance, to set right defects, including providing diaphragm chambers to filter solid waste, according to mayor M Subramanian.
Intervening during the zero hour discussion at the monthly council meet on Thursday, Subramanain said stern action would be taken against those violating rules. "Till date, we have sealed 38 hotels in various parts of the city, including six on the secretariat premises in Fort St George. As many as 10 shops have set right the defects after being sealed." He asked health officers to issue a show-cause notice to a hotel on Greams Road whose practices had led to sewage overflowing on to the road.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) or Metrowater has been enforcing the implementation of diaphragm chambers in hotels, hospitals and marriage halls. It is mandatory but no one had been following it for many years. In 2008, officials strictly ensured it was enforced. Syringes, leftover food, sanitary napkins, plantain leaves and raw materials from hotels were being let out into the drainage system, clogging it.
Metrowater depot engineers had been ordered to identify buildings without the chamber and notices served on those that didn't have them. And, if the chamber was not constructed within 15 days of the notice being served, the sewage connection was cut. Such chambers were installed in over 1,500 buildings between October 2008 and October 2009.
Subramanian said action would be initiated against state-run TASMAC bars that violate rules. Food inspectors and sanitary inspectors will soon visit bars to ensure that food was not prepared in the bar and that pre-cooked food adhered to health standards. Rukmangathan of the Congress had alleged that two bars on Whannels Road in Egmore, sealed by the corporation recently, had opened within hours with help from higher-ups.
Later, a resolution was adopted to reduce the food handlers' licence fee from Rs 500 to Rs 250. "This followed representations from hoteliers saying they could not afford such a huge' sum when the staff invariably switched loyalties," sources said.
Intervening during the zero hour discussion at the monthly council meet on Thursday, Subramanain said stern action would be taken against those violating rules. "Till date, we have sealed 38 hotels in various parts of the city, including six on the secretariat premises in Fort St George. As many as 10 shops have set right the defects after being sealed." He asked health officers to issue a show-cause notice to a hotel on Greams Road whose practices had led to sewage overflowing on to the road.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) or Metrowater has been enforcing the implementation of diaphragm chambers in hotels, hospitals and marriage halls. It is mandatory but no one had been following it for many years. In 2008, officials strictly ensured it was enforced. Syringes, leftover food, sanitary napkins, plantain leaves and raw materials from hotels were being let out into the drainage system, clogging it.
Metrowater depot engineers had been ordered to identify buildings without the chamber and notices served on those that didn't have them. And, if the chamber was not constructed within 15 days of the notice being served, the sewage connection was cut. Such chambers were installed in over 1,500 buildings between October 2008 and October 2009.
Subramanian said action would be initiated against state-run TASMAC bars that violate rules. Food inspectors and sanitary inspectors will soon visit bars to ensure that food was not prepared in the bar and that pre-cooked food adhered to health standards. Rukmangathan of the Congress had alleged that two bars on Whannels Road in Egmore, sealed by the corporation recently, had opened within hours with help from higher-ups.
Later, a resolution was adopted to reduce the food handlers' licence fee from Rs 500 to Rs 250. "This followed representations from hoteliers saying they could not afford such a huge' sum when the staff invariably switched loyalties," sources said.
