The District Industries Centre (DIC) has been empowered by the Mayiladuthurai administration to ensure quality of cement produced and sold in the district.
Stringent action will be taken against manufacturers and sellers of poor quality cement, Collector R. Lalitha said in a press release.
The manufacturers and sellers have been reminded of the directive issued by the Board of Indian Standards (BIS) to refrain from making claims that are not backed by the relevant Indian standards. The BIS has, so far, issued mandatory certification for 14 cement standards, and has cautioned the manufacturers against using certain terms implying sturdiness and high-performance. It is mandatory for the manufacturer to display the relevant IS code on the bag for easy identification of the type of cement in the bag.
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 14 of the BIS Act, 1986 (63 of 1986), the Central Government had issued the Cement (Quality Control) Order, 2003, whereby the appropriate authority can draw samples of cement bearing the Standard Mark from retailers and wholesalers for ascertaining whether they are of the specified standard, the Collector said.
The DIC has been authorised to confiscate poor quality cement, the release said.
Information regarding this could be shared by the public with the General Manager of DIC over phone (8925533969), the release said.
