Cutting paani at Restaurants

BMC's solution to city's water woes eateries should serve just half a glass of water to guests who ask for it

BMC's solution to city's water woesu00a0eateries should serve just half a glass of water to guests who ask for it

From October 1, officials from the BMC's hydraulic department will be heading to restaurants across the city to get their serve-not, waste-not, funda across.

All restaurants across grades including those in star hotels are being asked, politely, to save water, a simple two-step method.

Do not serve water unless the customer asks for it.

And serve only half a glass of water when the customer asks. This may not be much, but the BMC feels this is the solution to Mumbai's water woes.

Unique effort

Top ups, of course will follow the half-full principle.

This remarkable, and unique effort to save water and thereby diminish the shortfall, which stands at of 3,18,095 million litres or a 24 per cent shortfall, was taken during a high-level meeting held last week at the BMC headquarters.
Dineshchandra Gondalia, hydraulic engineer, BMC, said, "People almost never finish the entire glass of water and the rest always goes waste.
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We want to prevent that by asking restaurants to serve drinking water with restraint. In fact, I have been serving just half a glass of water in my office."

However, the BMC cannot penalise hotels. "Citizens should voluntarily take steps to save water during the water crisis," said Gondalia.

Hoteliers speak

Hoteliers, however, are divided over the issue. Narayan Alva, president of AHAR said, "We welcome the idea and we will be doing our best to save water."

However, SP Jain, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association (WI), does not agree with the BMC's suggestion. "Serving half a glass of water is contrary to Indian culture and the guest may feel insulted."

But hotels are upbeat and confess, "We have been following this for years. We serve water only on request at all our bars and lounges.

Even if our guests choose mineral water, the remainder in the bottle is used in the kitchen," said Shabbar Imam, banquet manager of the Intercontinental, Marine Drive.

Paani Bachao Andolan: All restaurants across grades including restaurants in star hotels are being asked to serve only half a glass of water when the customer asks for it.

"I think hoteliers have been saving water and we don't need the BMC to tell us how to go about it," he added.

Punish Sharma, GM, Rodas, a three-star boutique hotel in Powai said, "India is the only country where water at a restaurant is free, everywhere else in the world, you pay.

We serve water on request, and generally towards the end of a meal.

In addition, we have timer-operated taps that help us save water by 50 per cent. Our water saving measures help us save Rs 1.44 crore per year."

Satish Nayak, owner of Ram Nayak Udipi, feels bore wells are a must. "We faced acute water shortage eight years ago and dug a bore well.

Now, all our restaurant chains have separate water taps for potable and non-potable use. We save 4,000 litres per day, per restaurant."

15%
Water cut in the city

Voices

I don't think this idea will work. I would hate my glass to be half filled. I think there's a basic etiquette that has to be followed. And the water is not free. It's a hidden charge added to your bill.u00a0
Dinesh Singh, PR executive

I have seen drinking water being wasted at restaurants and I think serving half a glass, is a great idea.u00a0
Nishita Nair, student

Did you know?
BMC allots 90 litres of potable water per person per day.
Average water consumption per family per day is 360 litres that is 18 buckets (avg bucket has a capacity of 20 litres).
The city needs 4,200 million litres every day.
It gets about 3,400 million litres every day.
Around 650 million litres of water is wasted every day due to leakage and thefts.

BMC's Water Solution

Replenish groundwater reserves.
Digging tubewells, bore wells. Recycling wastewater (used for bathing, washing, and flushing toilets) will be made compulsory in new buildings from 2010.
These measures could reduce demand by at least 20 per cent.

Lake Levels Down

Tansa and Modak Sagar have a deficit of three per cent and 9.46 per cent respectively.

The irrigation department-owned Bhatsa, the major supplier of water to the city, has a deficit of 32 per cent and Upper Vaitarna has a deficit of around 43 per cent.

Waste not, want not

At the Rama Nayak Udupi in Matunga, customers are usually given free servings of sambhar and rasam. Butu00a0 those who waste it, pay a penalty of Rs 5.