Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: - (1) "building" includes -- (i) a house, out-house, stable, latrine, godown, shed, hut, wall (other than a boundary wall not exceeding two metres in height) and any other structure whether of masonry, bricks, wood, mud, metal or any other material whatsoever; (ii) a structure on wheels or simply raised on the ground without foundations; * Chapters I, II, V and XIV of this Act came into force w.e.f 12.11.1981 vide Notification – I published in EG No. 114 dt. 12.11.1981. Chapters III, IV, VI, VII, VIII,IX, X, XI, XII and XIII of this Act shall come into force in the whole of the Union territory of Puducherry on and from the 1st May, 1984 vide Notification published in EG Pt. I No. 62 dt. 13.06.1984. 33 (iii) a ship, vessel, boat (when outside the port limits of major ports as defined under the Indian Ports Act, 1908), tent, van and any other structure used for human habitation; but does not include a temporary shed erected on ceremonial or festive occasions. (2) "cattle" includes elephants, camels, mules, asses, horses, cows, bulls, bullocks, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs and their young ones. (3) "Chief Public Health Engineer" means an Engineer appointed or designated as such by the Government by a notification in the Official Gazette. (4) "dairy" includes – (i) any farm, cattle-shed, milk store, milk shop or other place from which milk is sold or supplied for sale or in which milk is kept for sale or manufactured into butter, ghee, cheese, cream, curd, buttermilk or dried, sterilized or condensed milk; and (ii) in relation to a dairy-man who does not occupy any premises for the sale of milk, any place in which he keeps the vessels used by him for the storage or sale of milk; but does not include a shop or place in which milk is sold for consumption on the premises only or a shop or a place from which milk is sold or supplied for sale in hermetically closed and unopened receptacles in the same original condition in which it was first received in such a shop or place. (5) "Director" means the Director of Health Services; (6) "drain" means a house-drain or a drain of any other description and includes a sewer, tunnel, culvert, ditch, channel or any other device for carrying off sullage, sewage, offensive matter, polluted water, rain water or sub-soil water; (7) "dwelling house" means a building constructed, used or adapted to be used, wholly or partly for human habitation or in connection therewith; (8) "executive authority" means the executive officer or other functionary of a local authority who is vested with the general executive powers by or under any law for the time being in force relating to (the creation and administration of) local authorities; (9) "factory" means any premises as defined in the Factories Act, 1948; 34 (10) "food" means any article as defined in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954*; (11) "functions" includes powers and duties; (12) "Government" means the Administrator appointed by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution; (13) "guardian" includes any person who has or is presumed to have accepted the care or custody of any child; (14) "health officer" means administrative medical officer or any other officer vested with the powers of a health officer under the Act, by the Government; (15) "hut" means any building which is constructed principally of wood, mud, leaves, grass, thatch or metallic sheets and includes any temporary structure of whatever size or any small building of whatever material made which the local authority may declare to be a hut for the purpose of this Act; (16) "latrine" includes a privy, water-closet and urinal, whether public or private, or whether open or flushout or any construction for purposes of urination or defecation; (17) "local area" means the area within the jurisdiction of a local authority; (18) "local authority" means – (a) a municipal council, or (b) any other body (not being a Cantonment authority governed by the Cantonments Act, 1924) constituted by law for the local administration of a village, town or other local areas; (19) "lodging house" means a hotel, a boarding house, a choultry, dharmasala or religious place or rest house not maintained by the Government or a local authority, an unlicensed emigration depot, or any place where casual visitors are received and provided with sleeping accommodation, with or without food, on payment, but does not include --- (a) a students’ hostel under public or recognised authority, or (b) retiring rooms or rest-houses provided by a railway administration and normally used by passengers or railway servants or both; (20) "Magistrate" does not include an honorary or village magistrate; (21) "milk" includes cream, skimmed milk, separated milk and condensed, sterilised, desiccated or toned or boiled milk; * Now, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (Central Act 34 of 2006). 35 (22) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (23) "nuisance" includes any act, omission, place or thing which causes or is likely to cause injury, danger, annoyance of offence to the sense of sight, smell or hearing or disturbance to rest or sleep or which is or may be dangerous to life or injurious to the health of the public or the people in general who dwell or occupy property in the vicinity or persons who may have occasion to use any public right; (24) "occupier" includes – (a) any person for the time being paying or liable to pay, to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building in respect of which the word is used or for damages on account of the occupation of such land, building or part thereof; (b) a rent free occupant; (c) an owner living in or otherwise using his own land or building; (d) a person having the charge, management or control of a building, or a part of a building or a house, premises or in the case of a lodging house which is let out to lodgers either on his own account or as the agent of another person, and in the case of ship, vessel or boat, the master or other person in charge thereof; and (e) in the case of land, building or house not occupied by any tenant or other person, the owner of the building or premises; (25) "offensive trade" means any trade in which the substances dealt with are or are likely to become a nuisance as defined in clause (23); (26) "owner" includes the person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive, whether on his account or as agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver for another person or estate or for any religious or charitable purposes the rent or profits of the property in connection with which the word is used; (27) "parent" means the father or mother of a child and includes foster and step parents; 36 (28) "premises" includes buildings and lands; (29) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules under this Act; (30) "private street" means any street, road, square, court, alley, lane, passage or riding-path which is not a "public street" but does not include a pathway made by the owner of premises on his own land to secure access to, or the convenient use of, such premises; (31) "public building" means a building used or adopted to be used --- (a) as a place of public worship or as school, college or other place of instruction (not being a dwelling house so used) or as a hospital, work house, public theatre, public cinema, public hall, public library or public lecture-room, public concert- room, public exhibition room, or as a public place of assembly; (b) for any other public purpose; or (c) as a hotel, eating house, lodging house, refuge or shelter; (32) "public street" means any street, road, square, court, alley, lane, passage or riding-path, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public have a right of way and includes --- (a) the roadway over any public bridge or causeway; (b) the footway attached to any such street, public bridge or causeway; and (c) the drains attached to any such street, public bridge or causeway and the land whether covered or not by any pavement, verandah or other structure which lies on either side of the roadway up to the boundaries of the adjacent property whether that property is private property or property belonging to the Government; (33) "public health services" or "health services" means services for the prevention and treatment of diseases and promotion of health and includes environmental sanitation, immunisation and any other services provided under this Act and the establishment and maintenance of any institution for the purpose of any such services; 37 (34) "urban local area" means the area within the jurisdiction of an urban local authority; (35) "Registered Medical Practitioner" means a medical practitioner registered under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956; (36) "urban local authority" means a city corporation, a municipal council or committee, or any other local authority notified by the Government as an urban local authority for the purposes of this Act; (37) "water course" includes any river, stream or channel whether natural or artificial other than a drain; (38) "Veneral disease" means syphilis, gonorrhoea, soft chancre (chancroid) venereal granuloma (Gramloma inguinale) or lympho granuloma (lymphograumloma venereum); (39) "work place" means any premises including the precincts thereof (not being a factory or a workshop) wherein is carried on any official business, industrial, manufacturing or trade process at which not less than five persons are employed for wages or any other remuneration; (40) "workshop" means any premises including the precincts thereof (not being a factory) wherein any article or part of an article is made, repaired, altered, ornamented, finished or otherwise adapted for use or a commercial basis and not less than five persons are employed for that purpose for wages or any other remuneration; (41) "year" means financial year; (42) "trade waste" includes industrial and factory wastes. CHAPTER – II HEALTH AUTHORITIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS Board of Health