Paradise and Cafe Bahar, two of the most popular biryani joints in Hyderabad, have been booked by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Thursday, after a raid conducted at branches of both eateries found them to be maintaining unhygienic standards.
Both the restaurant chains were served notices by the GHMC and issued a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Officials visited the kitchen of Paradise in Secunderabad after a customer complained of finding hair in the biryani that they ordered at the SD Road branch, the first ever outlet of the restaurant chain.
“When we conducted inspections today, we found single-use plastic and rotten vegetables in the unhygienic kitchen. We also discovered that they are using crystal salt instead of iodised salt,” E Sudharshan Reddy, Food Inspector from GHMC, told NewsMeter.
An inspection was also carried out at Cafe Bahar in Sitaramnagar when officials found the restaurant allegedly running without a trade licence, not maintaining hygiene in the kitchen and no segregation of waste.
According to reports, the workers were not wearing gloves and dustbins were kept close to the raw food that was going to be cooked.
Similar incidents have been reported from Hyderabad in the past.
In November last year, the iconic Karachi Bakery at Ameerpet had come under the scanner of civic body officials after a customer complained of worms found in sweets purchased from the bakery. A fine of Rs 25,000 was levied on the bakery owners for violating safety norms.
In September, a customer visiting the IKEA store in the city complained of contaminated food being served at the restaurant, after he found a fly in his chocolate cake.
Earlier that month, a caterpillar was found in the biryani that was served in the store's restaurant, following which a penalty of Rs 11,500 was levied.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, a team from the GHMC imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on KLM Fashion mall for an illegal video display on the road in Chandanagar in violation of rules. According to reports, this is the third time that the GHMC has imposed a penalty on the outlet.