According to highly-placed sources in the Delhi Government, the axe is set to fall on the director and joint director of the PFA. ``It is just a matter of few days,'' said a senior Delhi Government official.

The transfer order for joint director, S K Saxena, had already been issued some two weeks back. Rakesh Bali, joint director, education, is tipped to take over the post.

The other change that is on the cards is that of PFA director, Ashok Bakshi. While his transfer orders are yet to be processed, sources point out, the actual transfer may not take place before the dropsy epidemic is completely over.

But senior bureaucrats feel that such transfers are routine in the wake of the controversy generated by the outbreak of dropsy. ``The one department which can be directly held responsible for keeping atab on the adulteration of food items is the PFA. It naturally follows that an epidemic caused due to adulteration can take place only due to lapses in the department,'' says a former official with the PFA.

``It is normal with any government department. It is only after a crisis that the necks of the officials are measured for the noose. Like in the case of the Delhi Vidyut Board. It was only after this summer's power cuts chaos that the DVB chief Navin Chawla got the sack,'' he says.

But sources point out that the present PFA director did not get enough time to settle down in the office. Says a chemist with the PFA, ``He took over the office in October, 1997. We have hardly got used to his way of functioning and he is being moved, again.''

Both the transfers are expected to take place only after the quelling of the dropsy scare. ``If you get a new man on a sensitive post like the director, PFA, it will take a long time for him to get used to the situation. This is time for action, notacclimitisation,'' he feels.