Panaji: Hotels ask staff, tourists to use water sparingly

Panaji: With Panaji’s taps going dry, water conservation has become another part of the tourist experience in the state. The state capital’s hotels and restaurants have tactfully informed visitors to turn off the showers and faucets. “Though hoteliers and restaurants continue to keep their doors open for their patrons, buying water has now become expensive with some tanker operators charging as much as Rs 5,000 per tanker,” stakeholders said.

To cope with the water scarcity, several hotels have informed their staff and guests about the water crisis.

“We are telling guests and kitchen staff to use water sparingly. The situation is beyond our control,” said president of Goa Hotel & Restaurant Association Gaurish Dhond.

While some star hotels have their own water tankers, other hotels and resorts have a standing contract with water suppliers. Due to the high demand, water tanker operators have realised that hotels and restaurants are willing to pay a premium for water and have hiked their rates by more than 200%.

“I have told my children and my staff to use water judiciously, like a precious commodity. Earlier, my staff used to waste water but now they understand the value of it,” said Tony Almeida, a restaurateur from Caranzalem.

Apart from from the overpriced water itself, some tanker drivers who had been working continuously till midnight had to be cajoled and coaxed to undertake additional trips with a little extra “chai-pani”.

“Some hoteliers are willing to pay even Rs 5,000. But even if you are willing to pay extra, there are no tankers to supply water,” Dhond said.

Restaurants and hotels have no choice but to bear the additional cost. “The standards of the resort cannot be dropped because of the supply problem. We have ensured that our guests don’t suffer because of the water shortage but yes, we have requested guests to use the resource sparingly,” said an engineer with an international marquee resort.

Some hotels tasked their employees with standing guard at the water tanker refilling spots to ensure that the tankers were sent to the correct destination and not diverted to an establishment that was willing to pay higher.