Two water plants sealed

LAHORE: On the orders of the Supreme Court, a special drive of water sampling continued vigorously by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) across Punjab.

PFA Director General Captain (R) Muhammad Usman has directed all the teams to complete the task within the time period which was given by the apex court. The PFA DG said water samples were being collected from the plants of bottled water companies and filtration plants.

He said the purpose of the campaign was to examine the quality of water through lab tests. He said that in the light of laboratory report, indiscriminate action would be taken against filtration plants.

Meanwhile, a team of PFA sealed Smart Flow water plant located at Al-Rehman Garden Phase V over failure to produce food licence, poor sanitation system and unavailability of lab tests. A Punjab Food Authority team raided Smart Water plant in Razwan Garden and sealed it over non-compliance of the authority’s instructions, preserving products at the foot level and for failing water sample tests.

PFA also launched a crackdown on unhygienic food points and production units in the provincial metropolis and penalised food business operators. PFA imposed Rs10,000 fine on Pharmagen Water on Multan Road for open drains, washing bottles in the shop premises and improper cleanliness arrangements.

PFA teams imposed a heavy fine on milk shops, sweets shops and other food points for violating the PFA Act. A huge quantity of substandard and harmful food products was discarded by the authority. The PFA also served notices for improvement on hundreds of food points in a daylong operation.

accidents: The Punjab Emergency Service/Rescue 1122 responded to 819 road accidents in all 36 districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours.

Four people died and 917 sustained injured. Out of the injured, 562 were badly injured who were removed to hospitals while 351 minor injured victims were treated at on the spot by the rescue medical teams.