Onus on hotels to supply hygienic food

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JULY 26. Public health officials of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) have made it explicit that the responsibility of supplying "wholesome" water and "hygienic food" to customers lies with the hoteliers only.

Urging hotels to give the utmost importance to cleanliness and installing water treatment facilities, they have requested them to "cooperate" with the Government in tackling water-borne diseases.

A meeting was held here on Wednesday between hotel owners of the twin cities and officials of the MCH and the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) in the backdrop of the MCH suspending trade licences of 76 hotels in public interest.

"We have no intention of harassing you. Don't treat it as a punishment but as a caution," said Dr. G. Mastan Rao, Chief Medical Officer, MCH. Though there were several factors involved in the maintenance of public health like personal hygiene and cleanliness, public defecation and so on, the hotels cannot absolve themselves of their duty to supply clean water and food irrespective of their source.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Assistant Medical Officer, said there were more than 10,000 eateries and 6,000 hotels in the city and regulation of these was an onerous task. "There's need for self- regulation among the hotels and awareness levels should be increased," he said.

"Making provision for supply of water and food of reasonable quality does not require much investment," he pointed out. The civic body would not hesitate to seal those hotels against which the charges were grave.

He suggested that hotels identify a reputed private lab for taking up periodic quality checks. Cleaning of sumps and overhead tanks once a month, testing of water once in three months (or a year if it was a single source) was also mooted by him.

The Deputy General Manager of the HMWSSB (Quality), Mr. Samuel, said the water being supplied by the board was in conformity with the WHO standards. "Our job is to supply water till the customer's doorstep," he said, and charged most hotels with not maintaining clean water tanks.

Admitting that there was no sufficient water supply, he told the hoteliers to opt for tankers supplied by the board. Borewater and pipelines which supplied water should be checked periodically.

Though the meeting went off smoothly, there were moments when some agitated hoteliers accused the civic body of making them "scapegoats" for increase in gastroenteritis cases and "sullying their reputation" by releasing their names to the press. "What about roadside eateries? What can we do about contaminated water coming from the Water Board pipelines themselves," they asked.

However, they accepted that there could be some black sheep amidst their flock. The hoteliers appealed to MCH/HMWSSB officials to educate them about the steps to be taken and they were unanimous that "cancelling licences was not the answer to the problem."

Holding circlewise meetings and taking up a campaign to educate hoteliers was suggested by Mr. G.V. Krishnaiah, president, Hyderabad Hotel Owners & Confectioners Association, and others. Mr. K.C. Kalkura, president, A.P. Hotel Owners Association, presided.

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