Mumbai's Iconic Cricket Ground Just Had Five of Its Food Outlets Shut Down Over Hygiene Violations
Maharashtra's FDA suspended licences at five Mumbai Cricket Association food outlets as part of a statewide hygiene crackdown that has inspected 45 establishments and issued 33 improvement notices this month.
Even one of Mumbai's most storied sporting venues wasn't spared this time.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration suspended the food licences of five outlets operating inside the Mumbai Cricket Association premises on Monday, citing violations tied to food handling, storage, refrigeration, and general sanitation. The action was part of a broader statewide crackdown that has, in total, resulted in 11 food establishment licences being suspended across the state.
The scale of the sweep is notable. Regulators inspected 45 hotels, restaurants, eateries, and roadside dhabas during the drive, issuing improvement notices to 33 establishments and carrying out 25 separate raids, according to an official FDA press note.
This isn't an isolated push, either — it's part of a sustained enforcement effort that's picked up considerable pace since IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe took over as FDA commissioner in May. Under his tenure, the department has run several similar statewide drives in recent weeks. One earlier round inspected 89 hotels, restaurants, and dhabas across Maharashtra, resulting in 71 improvement notices and 13 further licence suspensions — a sweep that notably included outlets tied to a McDonald's location and the well-known Bombay Presidency Radio Club in south Mumbai.
Some of the violations uncovered during these inspections have been genuinely severe. At one Malad West establishment inspected earlier this month, officials reported finding rats near an open drainage line and on the ceiling, alongside cockroaches on dough-mixing equipment — findings serious enough to trigger an immediate licence suspension under Section 32(3) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Other cited issues across various inspections have included grease buildup, stagnant water, leaking drains, incomplete pest-control measures, and unresolved deficiencies from prior warnings.
Not everyone views the pace of enforcement as purely positive. The Bombay High Court has reportedly raised concerns about whether such an aggressive approach risks shutting down commercial establishments entirely rather than giving them a fair opportunity to correct violations first — a tension between rapid public-health enforcement and due process that's likely to keep surfacing as the drive continues.
For now, though, the message from regulators is consistent: no establishment, regardless of how well-known or high-profile, is exempt from routine hygiene inspection — cricket ground concession stands included.
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