Sale of unhygienic food goes unchecked in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi: The City District Government, Rawalpindi, has failed to stop sale of unhygienic food in hotels and restaurants and substandard meat at meat-shops. Both hotel owners and butchers are playing with people’s lives, but the concerned authorities have left public in the lurch.

The unhygienic food is being sold at bus-stands, hospitals and public parks. Faizabad Bus Stand, Pirwadhai Bus Stand and Hamrahi Wagon Station are ideal places where violators are openly selling unhygienic food.

Similarly, violators openly sell unhygienic ‘ojheri’ and ‘kaleeji’ in front of allied hospitals, particularly in front of District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), Rawalpindi. It has also been observed that vendors selling food items, including ‘samosas’, ‘pakoras’, tea and other common food items prepare them at smelly open places, whereas no sanitary arrangement or measures are adopted while preparing these items.

When ‘The News’ contacted Additional District Collector General (ADCG) Imran Qureshi, he said that sometimes they remain entangled in other official work, therefore, they could not take action against those selling unhygienic food. “We have registered dozens of FIRs against violators in this regard,” he claimed.

Sihala Slaughterhouse General Manager Dr. Farrukh said that they are conducting raids to impound unhygienic meat from shops. He admitted that butchers are selling unhygienic meat in Rawalpindi city and cantonment board localities.

On the other hand, vendors were of the view that they could not afford to consider the cleanliness of the items as their margin of profit was shrinking due to inflation. Health experts say that substandard food may cause diseases like typhoid, hepatitis, diarrhoea and different kinds of infections.

Muhammad Imtiaz Qureshi, a senior citizen, said that there should be a constant check on the sale of unhygienic food items. Rashid Sheikh, another citizen, said that officials should come out of their cozy rooms to keep a check on unhygienic food items openly sold in every nook and corner of the city.