Kolkata: Two weeks since the special food safety drive got over in Kolkata, only 19 of the 70 establishments that were served suspension notices by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) have reopened.The special drive started on Sept 1 and ended on Sept 7. KMC sources said 19 out of 20 eateries that had applied for reopening until last week were inspected and given the nod to resume operations. Most of the remaining 50 eateries are yet to approach KMC for its nod to reopen.Nizam’s, Kareem’s on Mirza Ghalib Street, and an Arsalan outlet in Dum Dum Nagerbazar are among those that have reopened.On Monday, Big Boss in Chinatown applied for reopening. “We are ready to reopen. We submitted our application on Monday. Now it depends on when KMC conducts its inspection,” said Edwin Hsieh, one of the owners of Big Boss.The establishments that were served suspension orders were barred from serving food to their patrons. They must address the issues raised by KMC. Once the changes have been implemented, the eateries will need to approach the civic body’s food safety wing. KMC will conduct inspections, and if satisfied with the corrective measures, it will give permission to the eateries to reopen.The civic body has also started receiving lab reports of samples that were picked up during the food safety drives. “We have received 26 reports so far, out of over 60 samples that were picked up during the week-long food safety drive.”Officials did not elaborate on the contents of the reports. “Some of the reports are not satisfactory. We have forwarded copies of the reports to the eateries,” said an official.The eateries can challenge the findings of the reports within a month. “If they do not challenge the findings of our lab reports, they will be summoned for adjudication where they will be informed about a penalty that they have to pay,” added the official.The ones that decide to challenge KMC’s findings will receive a sample of the seized food from the restaurant. “We collected four samples of the same food during our inspection. One of the samples is tested in a govt laboratory and the rest are preserved with us. We will provide the owners of the establishments with one sample if they challenge our test results,” said KMC official.The eateries can get it tested in any NABL-accredited laboratory, said the official.If the test report of a neutral lab does not match with the results of govt lab, one of the remaining samples will be sent to a referral laboratory — National Food Laboratory on Kyd Street. “Its result is considered final,” said an official.