BMC inspects over 225 eateries

Kofuku and Global Fusion in Bandra, Shalimar at Mohd Ali Road and China Spice at Dadar among restaurants found to be flouting civic norms

Continuing its action against restaurants across the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) conducted inspections at over 225 grade-2 and grade-3 restaurants on Tuesday. Famous eateries against which the BMC took action include Kofuku and Global Fusion in Bandra; Mainland China and Kailash Parbat in Kurla; and Gypsy, China Spice and Chandragupta in Dadar.

The drive in progress outside Malad railway station on Tuesday. (Pratham Gokhale/HT)

BMC officers also took action against Shalimar Hotel at Mohammad Ali Road, MM Mithaiwala in Malad, Kohinoor Hall and Banquets, Utsav and Delhi Darbar at Marine Lines, among others.

The civic body issued an inspection report to most of the eateries. A majority were found to have flouted norms by not having a license, encroaching on open space and building mezzanines. “Most of these restaurants did not have the mandatory no-objection certificate from the fire brigade. We have given them some time to produce the relevant documents. If they don’t, we will initiate action in a week,” said a senior civic official from the health department, who did not wish to be named.

Under BMC guidelines, all restaurants are assigned grades on the basis of a points system, which scores them on factors such as seating, hygiene and rest rooms. Other famous eateries against which the civic body took action on Tuesday include Gurukripa Hotel in Sion, My Kitchen and Kareem’s in Goregaon East, Sam’s Kitchen in Powai and the Bangalore Iyengar Bakery in Bhandup.

Following a huge fire, which killed eight people at Kurla’s Hotel City Kinara last Friday, the BMC has initiated a massive drive against eateries. On Monday, the civic body sealed nine restaurants around City Kinara for flouting fire rules and also took action against well-known hotels such as Sardar Pav Bhaji and Bhagat Tarachand.

Some activists, however, are critical of the BMC’s drive. Hasim Shaikh, a lawyer and activist from Bandra, said, “BMC is undertaking a selective drive, which is a complete eyewash. I have complained about encroachments made by a restaurant at Linking Road several times, but to date the BMC has not taken any action.”