CUTTACK: The health squad of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) raided several food stalls at the Baliyatra fair grounds on Sunday and destroyed 3.5 quintals of stale food being sold at 196 stalls. The CMC also decided to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on owners of food stalls who are found selling stale food from Monday onwards.A 14-member squad comprising one food safety inspector has been constituted for periodic checks on the quality of cooked and preserved food items sold at the 600 food kiosks in Baliyatra. "This year, we have given extra attention to the hygeine of food served at the fair. We are also destroying food which has been openly preserved without taking any precautionary measure like covers," said CMC health officer, Umesh Panigrahi.The food stall owners were given a three-day notice period which ends on Sunday, after which fines will be imposed, he added.The CMC has destroyed seven quitnals of stale food in the first three days of Baliyatra. "We have also ensured that food is preserved properly with a cover on the utensils to avoid any unhygienic situation," added Panigrahi.Visitors who thronged the grounds on Sunday - in especially large numbers as it was the weekend - were happy with the raid."It's really sad to see that stale food was being sold at Baliyatra. It is not fair that just for profit, traders can playing with the health of customers. It is good that the raid has revealed the sale of such food," said Abhishek Mohanty, a visitor.Such periodic raids would now be a routine affair for the fair and the drive will continue till the end, said a senior CMC official.Among the delicacies were dahibara aloo-dum, the famous thunka puri and chhena curry, Mathura cake, mudhi mansa and chicken and mutton dum biryani.To make Baliyatra plastic free, the squad seized 11 kgs of polythene from various kiosks in the fair on Sunday as the administration banned the use of polythene and plastic in the fair.

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