An Enviro Double Standard: Hauz Khas Hotels Face Closed

By Pradeep Sahay | INN Live

Hauz Khaz Village in Delhi is supposed to be ‘the’ place for alternate culture. But try getting into the place on a weekend night, and you’ll face more traffic and parking horror than you would at a shopping mall. There’s usually a long line of cars waiting to get into the ‘village’ which has a number of popular and chic eating joints. 

However the restaurants in the village have been facing a tough time since September 2013 when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered that most of these were not following environmental norms. The tribunal had pointed out how the restaurants had not treated wastewater before it hits the drains. Back in September, 34 restaurants were shut down for violating norms.
The NGT in its latest hearing in the case ordered that 12 popular restaurants should be shut down for functioning without the CTO license from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). The list includes Yeti, He Said She Said, Faarsi, The Food Hill, to name a few. The NGT in its earlier order also directed the eateries to ensure that they should set up effluent treatment plants (ETP) for treating sewage water properly before disposing it. 

The order states that out of 32 the restaurants in Hauz Khaz village only 20 have applied for the ‘consent to operate’ license. It further reads that DPCC was only satisfied about 8 of the restaurants and that the remaining 12 would only be allowed to function once the DPCC had approved. The court also asked the DPCC to pass orders on the same within two weeks. But a walk down Hauz Khaz on Thursday doesn’t give the impression that too much has changed. 

Yeti, one of the restaurants that was apparently asked to shut down by the court’s order, was still open for business today. Yeti’s manager TB Karki told us that they have managed to get the CTO from the DPCC. He says, “We only have seating for around 35 people, so we don’t need to set up an effluent treatment plant (ETP). We only need to have a grease trap in place and we already have that.” 

A grease trap stops oils, and others wastes from leaking into the water once it released after usage in a kitchen. When asked about the latest order, Karki says, “We had already submitted our paper work to the DPCC and we were granted the CTO today. So we can function. I’m guessing that in case of the others, they too must be submitting their paper work and will wait for the final approval.” 

As far, ETPs go the cost can be fairly high for restaurant. One restaurant owner, whose restaurant has not been affected by the order, told us, “We can’t install it on our own in the kitchen or outside. The decision has to be taken by the directors of the building. The cost can vary and depends on quotation from companies but is usually between 3-5 lakhs.” The fact that most restaurants are on rented premises adds to the complication. Another chef at one of the affected restaurants told us, “We have an ETP but it’s shared with others in the building. 

The total cost was Rs 5 lakhs, but we had to shell out close to Rs 2 lakh for our share.” While proper waste management does come at a fairly high cost for restaurants, it should be pointed out that business in Hauz Khaz hasn’t been doing too badly either with the crowd always coming in. The same owner also told us that on a weekday there are close to 1500 people in the village but on weekends, the number doubles. When it comes to flouting water management laws or those dealing with environmental concerns, it would be silly to blame just the Hauz Khaz Village and its denizens. 

As Bharat Lal Seth, who works with International rivers, points out, "Where the issue of waste management is concerned, forget one market place in Delhi, the entire city doesn't really have a plan. The truth is that none of India's cities deem sewage water treatment a priority and this reflects in the state of our rivers today." This is evidenced by the more detailed report by the NGT on how restaurants/ hotels operate in Delhi. 

Ironically the report pointed out that till date only 300 restaurants/hotels have applied for consent under Air /Water Act from DPCC. It then goes on to acknowledge that many hotels/restaurants are yet to come under the ambit of DPCC and thus it is unlikely that they are complying with the prescribed norms under Water, Air Act & other Environmental Laws. 

Even as the report accepts that many restaurants/hotels are not working under its guidelines, it goes into great details on how restaurants/hotels shall deal with sewage waste, gas emissions etc. It also sets out the requirements based on the seating capacity and size of the establishment. The NGT is perhaps right to pull up restaurants in Hauz Khaz on violation of environmental standards. 

But how proactive it will be in applying the same yardstick to other eating joints and hotels in Delhi remains to be seen.