Water crisis: Guruvayur hotels to down shutters tomorrow

Thrissur: The Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Owners' Association, Guruvayur,  will close  down the  hotels and lodges on Tuesday demanding  a solution to the acute water shortage.

District collector A. Kowsigan has convend a  meeting at the Collectorate on Monday and if no solution is found to the issue, they will go ahead with the strike.

The temple town is  set to celebrate the annual festival of  Sree Krishna temple that begins with flag hosting on Wednesday and will end with ‘aarattu’ on March 17.

The hotels and restaurants in the town had been getting water from borewells in Thaikkad region in the  Guruvayur municipality and from Chavakakd region. But as the wells in those regions have started drying up,  thge local people have started protesting.

 “We want a solution without preventing the supply of water to the people of  Thaikkad and Chavakkad. At present we are buying water from Kunnamkulam by paying Rs 3,000 for 5,000-litre tanker. Earlier, we were getting water by paying half the rate,” Mr G.K. Prakesh , Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association’s working president and functionary of Guruvayur unit said.

By completing the long-pending Karuvannur river drinking water project by next year and embarking on a major water conservation project at Pookode region near the temple town,  the water shortage in Guruvayur town and temple region could be solved.