LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Wednesday uprooted vegetables cultivated on more than 487 kanals with industrial waste and sewerage water across Punjab.
PFA teams also sealed several tube wells that were being used as sources to supply chemical waste and polluted water. On the special directives of PFA Director General Noorul Amin Mengal, food safety teams (FSTs) under the supervision of food safety officers (FSOs) visited fields in different districts of Punjab and inspected 8,456 kanals in this respect. PFA DG Noorul Amin Mengal said that PFA was doing work in collaboration with other departments to control the irrigation of vegetables with polluted water. He said that the PFA had forwarded recommendations to the departments concerned to take action against farmers for the elimination of polluted water sources.
PFA’s watchdogs discarded crops of turnip, onion, garlic and other vegetables by ploughing tractor. Moreover, the authority carried out a crack down on substandard food suppliers, production units and eateries across the province. As many as 20 food premises were sealed and 71 food business operators (FBOs) were punished with heavy fine tickets due to non-compliance with PFA’s instructions.
The authority imposed Rs 102,100 fine on 10 eateries in Multan division, Rs 18,000 on six shops in Sargodha, Rs 99,000 on 17 food points in Rawalpindi, Rs 79,000 on nine food outlets in Faisalabad and Rs 210,500 on 29 food premises in Gujranwala during the daylong activities.
Published in Daily Times, March 15th 2018.