**Cuttack**: Bali Jatra, the week-long mega fair of Cuttack is in news for wrong reasons. Around 2.5 quintals of stale food was seized and destroyed by Health Squad of Cuttack Municipal Corporation at the fair.
The famous Bali Jatra is known for its array of gastronomical delights like the yummy ‘thunka poori’, lipsmacking ‘dahi-bara aludam’ delightful ‘chakuli and mutton kasa’ with kiosks selling mouth watering vegetarian and non-vegetarian , including dishes of different States.
Hordes of people throng to this fair to relish these delicacies. And Sunday was celebrated as the ‘Chhadakhai’, (the day when people of Odisha partake non vegetarian food after denouncing it for the month of Kartik). The raid was intensified as due to ‘Chhadakhai’ people gorged on non-vegetarian food.
Hundreds of stalls were set up to cater the needs of the taste buds of Odisha denizens.Despite repeated reminders by the civic body, food joints in the fair are widely selling unhygienic and harmful food.
The officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) conduct raids at regular intervals to ensure proper hygiene is maintained in preparation and no stale food is served to visitors during the festival.
It is reported that there was a footfall of over five lakh visitors in the Bali Jatra on the second day on Sunday.