SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Jan 4: The food safety wing of the Dhanbad district administration has cracked down on spurious dry as well as liquid milk and collected suspected adulterated samples from different shops for testing.
The special team under food safety officer (FSO) Abhishek Anand launched a comprehensive inspection drive right from Khatal to retailers and collected two samples of Madhusudan and Dholpur Fresh brands milk powder on suspicion from shops in the Dhaiya area. The inspection drive is still in progress.
“Besides retailers of milk powder, all Khatals owners, milk traders and dairy milk operators of the district have been served notice to strictly avoid adulteration of milk. If milk, milk powder of any milkman or trader is found spurious or adulterated in the test at the lab, the administration would initiate legal action against him,” said FSO Abhishek Anand.
The special drive against spurious/adulterated milk and its powder has been launched on the directive of Dhanbad SDO Prem Kumar Tiwary and would continue in the district further.
The food safety wing of the district administration has also set up a complaint cell in the office against adulterated milk It is the first of its kind in 24 districts of the state.
“I appeal to common milk consumers to also inform or lodge a complaint in the office if adulterated/ spurious milk or its powder is served,” he said.
FSO Abhishek Anand denied that a special drive against adulterated milk has been kicked start in wake of the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) New Delhi’s directive.
“To date, we have not got any directive from state headquarters about launching an inspection against adulterated milk. The campaign has been initiated only on the directive local administration level. In past too we had inspected Khatals and milk booths in the district,” he added.
NHRC New Delhi has directed the Chief Secretary (CS) and Director General of Police (DG) Jharkhand to probe and fact-finding reports on whether spurious milk is being made and sold in the Dhanbad district of the state.
NHRC sent notice to Jharkhand on basis of a media report that spurious milk is being made in Dhanbad at a large scale to cater for the requirement as well as earn money.
