Title - Investigation reveals unhygienic food on Marusagar Express

Initial probe by the railways has found that unhygienic food was being supplied to passengers aboard Marusagar Express.

The probe was conducted by both Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions separately.  However, officials also maintained that the final assessment can be stated only after a thorough scientific examination was conducted.

The Assistant Commercial Manager submitted a report to Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

The report stated that the ‘cold chain management’ (maintaining of food in proper temperature) in Marusagar Express, bound to Ernakulam from Ajmer, is extremely poor.Over 50 persons travelling in the Express train had fallen ill on Saturday after consuming food that was provided in the pantry car of the train run by ABC Enterprises, a catering agency in Kolkata.“The cold chain management of food items like chicken and curd is poor. The caterers had only two cold storage facilities in the train. This is extremely improper for long distance trains,” the report stated.It also suggested that the vendors were unhygienic and did not serve the food in a healthy way. Expired food items, including gram floor and oil, were also found.According to the officials, food inspectors will examine products that were found in the pantry car and will submit a report to the division in a week’s time.However, they added that much could not be deduced from the incident since the vendors had removed all the items in the pantry car before the train touched Shornur railway station.

The report will then be submitted to officials at the North Western railway which had awarded the contract to the agency.

A separate enquiry was conducted by Palakkad division on Sunday.  Based on the reports, action will be taken against the contractors.  The licence will also be suspended if the report proves that the contractors are at fault.

According to the officials, Thiruvananthapuram division has tightened checking in pantry cars of trains in the division.

“Already, we are conducting strict checks here. The check will be strengthened in the coming days,” the officials added.

Five persons were examined by doctors at Ernakulam railway station.  After ensuring that they were safe, they were sent home.