Delhi’s five-star hotels asked to cut down water consumption

With a water crisis during the peak summer months looming large, the Delhi Government has asked 35 five-star hotels to take immediate steps to cut down their consumption and directed them to set up waste water treatment plants.

Identifying the five-star hotels as major guzzlers of water, the Government has directed them to take a number of “concrete steps” by June to conserve water and install waste water treatment plants by September.

“We have asked 35 five-star hotels to file affidavits informing us about measures they are taking to cut consumption of water. They have been told to set up waste water treatment plants for recycling of waste water by September,” a senior official of the environment department said.

The officials said five-star hotels in Delhi consume around 14 million litres of water daily and generate nearly 10 million litres of sewage everyday.

They said punitive action would follow in case of non-compliance of the directive.

When asked about the Government directive, an official in the Taj Palace Hotel said a number of steps were being taken to ensure water conservation.

The current average demand for potable water in Delhi is around 1,100 mgd (million gallons per day) and the Delhi Jal Board supplies around 800 mgd water across the city after treating raw water in its treatment plants.

The demand is projected to touch around 1,400 mgd by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2017. Delhi relies heavily on neighbouring States such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for the supply of raw water.

Large parts of the city witnessed a severe water shortage last summer and people even resorted to violent protests in many localities demanding water.

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