NASHIK, July 2, 2013: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to launch a drive from next week to inspect hotels and eateries across the city to monitor food quality. There are around 3,000 hotels and eateries across the city.

The drive will be conducted in view of the Kumbh Mela scheduled in 2015-16. Around one crore people are expected to visit Nashik during the Kumbh.

Chandrakant Pawar, joint commissioner (food), FDA, said: "Lakhs of devotees come to Nashik for the Kumbh Mela. Public health will be a priority for us during the Kumbh. We are, therefore, planning to launch a special drive to inspect the hotels and eateries from the first week of July."

"The major objective behind the drive is to check whether the food is cooked in hygienic conditions. We will serve improvement notices to hoteliers where the food is found to be unhygienic. We will take action against hoteliers or owners of eateries if improvement is not seen even after issuance of notices."

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 2, 2013.