Allegation that water being served in many hotels is of poor quality

The health committee of the Kochi Corporation is all set to intensify inspections of hotels and restaurants in the wake of allegations that the quality of water being supplied is poor.

This assumes significance considering that during the period between January 1 and June 23, as many as 16,364 cases of water-borne diseases have been reported from the district. The month of June accounted for 3,255 cases and is still counting.

Field visits

Health committee chairperson V.K. Minimol said health inspectors had been instructed to undertake field visits and inspect eateries to ensure water quality. Similar visits were also being undertaken directly by the health committee members.

“We have given strict directions to hotel and restaurant owners to use only Kerala Water Authority (KWA) water for cooking. A meeting of owners has also been scheduled for Tuesday as part of the intensive three-day sanitation campaign declared by the State government,” said Ms. Minimol.

Benedict Fernandus, councillor of division 28 Amaravathy, alleged that borewell water was being widely used by hotels and restaurants in the city and suburbs, and blamed the health committee for not doing enough to check the practice. “The tank storing borewell water is unhygienic, and the water stored in it is being served to customers, and in some cases, without boiling,” alleged Mr. Fernandus who also raised the issue at the council meeting last week.

Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) general secretary G. Jayapal, however, shot down the allegation and said no complaints regarding serving of borewell water had been received by the association or the authorities concerned.

He said the 78-member district-level hygiene monitoring committee formed by the association was very active.

“Teams of five members each drawn from the association are visiting hotels and restaurants in each unit and are spreading awareness on the need to provide clean drinking water and maintain general hygiene,” said Mr. Jayapal.

Hotel owners have been made aware of the shortcomings and directed to take corrective measures in a month. Leaflets on maintaining hygiene standards are also being distributed among owners.

The association’s packaged drinking water brand has already been made available to members in Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts. “There have been instances in which hotel owners were held accountable for the inferior quality of packaged drinking water. We maintain top quality standards for our packaged water and own responsibility for any drop in quality,” said Mr. Jayapal.

District Medical Officer N.K. Kuttappan said though water-borne diseases were yet to be classified as an outbreak, local bodies had been asked to undertake intensive ward-level sanitation campaigns.

“Local bodies, the Public Works Department and the KWA have more to do in containing water-borne diseases. There should be strict monitoring of dumping of waste to prevent its seepage into groundwater. Puddles should not be allowed to form near water sources as they will contaminate the water,” said Mr. Kuttapan even as he directed people only to drink boiled water and wash hands properly before having food.