Food safety surveillance drive to be conducted for Gangasagar Mela

KOLKATA: The Commissioner of Food Safety has written to the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMoH) in South 24-Parganas, urging to ensure the utilisation of 'food safety on wheels' at Gangasagar Mela ground from January 9 to 17 so that the district health administration keeps a tab on food safety issues.

"Food Safety is a huge challenge amid the gathering of Gangasagar Mela. Food Safety Officers will look after food safety issues through inspection and sampling," reads the letter.

South 24-Parganas district administration has been asked to keep an arrangement of a mobile van called 'the food safety on wheels' at the Sagar Island for carrying out surveillance from January 9 to 17. Food safety officers of South 24-Parganas and Diamond Harbour health district will conduct the food safety surveillance drive at the island, the letter stated.

The officials will check the quality of the food sold to the pilgrims by examining the random samples. The maintenance of food safety is of utmost importance in a fair that attracts lakhs of devotees from across the country.

Meanwhile, the State Health department has formed a homeopathic medical team that will attend the pilgrims at the Ganga Sagar Mela next year. The team of homeopathic medical officers and homeopathic compounder and dresser will reach there on January 10 and work until the Mela ends. The medical officers will again resume normal duty at their respective places of posting after the Mela is over. There will be a total of six members in the team.

They will check the health conditions of the pilgrims if they complain about any health related issues. There will be adequate arrangements of boats so that a patient can be shifted to a hospital on an emergency basis. As the Covid curve has almost flattened there will be no restrictions this year. This year, pilgrims had to undergo thermal screening at various points before entering Ganga Sagar as the number of Covid cases were reported in large numbers. But the number of daily infections has consistently gone below 10.