Kolkata Municipal Corporation has allowed 10 restaurants, including Nizam’s, Kareem’s and an Arsalan outlet, to reopen after inspections found that the eateries had addressed food-safety deficiencies that led to their suspension a week ago. The civic body said 12 more restaurants were under active consideration for reopening.
A KMC official said inspectors had found the 10 establishments fit to resume operations after corrective measures were completed. “We inspected 10 restaurants and found that they were now fit to reopen. They were shut down for violations of food safety norms,” the official said. The official added that permission could be granted to another dozen eateries shortly.
KMC issued suspension notices to 40 establishments on September 8 after a week-long food-safety drive. The notices barred the establishments from serving customers and gave them two weeks to make corrections. Twenty other eateries subsequently received similar notices. Restaurants that failed to address the deficiencies could have faced stricter action.
The irregularities identified during the inspections included storing food without tags showing when it was first stored and its use-by date. Inspectors also found the use of ingredients not permitted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and colours considered hazardous to health.
Sources said the restaurants that received permission to reopen had applied to the civic body after making the required changes. A KMC official said almost all eateries inspected during the previous two days had introduced measures to address concerns raised by food inspectors. “Our inspectors have found noticeable improvement in the hygiene of the restaurants,” the official said.
Kareem’s reopened on Tuesday, while Nizam’s was expected to reopen on Wednesday after renovation work. Samar Nag, the current owner of the 98-year-old Nizam’s, said the KMC team had found colour in the restaurant’s biryani beyond the permissible limit. The restaurant has decided to use only saffron in its coloured biryani and introduce a white biryani as a separate dish. Both varieties will initially be prepared in limited quantities, he said.
Nag said the shutdown had caused concern among employees because the festive season is a period when restaurant business usually increases. “It was a traumatic experience for us. Employees were worried about salary and bonus,” he said.
Some sweet shops were also cleared to reopen. KMC administrator and municipal commissioner Smita Pandey had earlier expressed disappointment over cleanliness standards at some sweet shops. However, laboratory results for samples collected during the drive were still awaited on Tuesday.
More than 2,700 samples were collected during the food-safety operation. The KMC’s next decisions on the remaining suspended establishments will depend on inspections and the corrective measures reported by each restaurant.
