Hyderabad: Hotels cock a snook at norms as kitchen waste chokes drains

Hyderabad: Hotels, restaurants and other major eateries in the city are choking the sewer system at different places as they dump all their kitchen waste into the drain, resulting in regular blockage of drains, adding to the damage to the city’s drainage system. These eateries fail to follow the norms of solid waste management and go scot-free as the authorities are turning a blind eye on the illegal activities.

It has been observed that wherever hotels and restaurants are built, sewer systems are overflowing due to dumping of kitchen waste into drainage lines. At several areas where the major hotels are in the city, manholes have been overflowing, but the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has not turned up to clean it. The sewage water continues to flow for over a kilometer surrounding such hotels, turning the road slippery.

As per locals, overflowing drains are seen at several stretches throughout the city, including at Hotel Sohail in Malakpet, Mandi House, Mandi King in Saidabad, Shah Ghouse in Old City, Tolichowki, Shaikpet and Lakdikapul, Albaik Chicken in Santosh Nagar, Victoria, Ruman, Redaan, King Khaja in Old City.

Several major eateries like Bahar Café in Himayat Nagar, Mandi King, Mandi 36 in Banjara Hills, and at various other places including Jubilee Hills, Film Nagar, Nagole, Dilsukhnagar, food courts in Yousuf Tekri, Tolichowki among others see the same problem.

According to the residents and commuters, on various stretches the eateries are opened and there is no doubt that these eateries are dumping their kitchen stuff in the drains, which is leading to drainage blocks and sewage overflowing on the road. This has become the norm across the city. The restaurants are so lethargic to dispose of the leftovers and use the shortcut of dumping them in the manholes.

Moreover, when HMWSSB undertakes the process of cleaning the drains, it has been observed that several hotels are dumping food waste in them. Apart from food waste, plastic waste is also observed. The hotel management dumps kitchen waste into the manhole, causing a blockage that leads to the drain water flowing onto the road. As a result, the road becomes slippery, and commuters face inconvenience.

A resident in Tolichowki complained that overflowing drainage is a regular feature due to the dumping of food waste into sewer lines by a hotel which leads to unpleasant smell. Mohammed Nayeemuddin said, “The entire road is spread with dirty water gushing out from the manhole, which is oleaginous, and a foul smell is formed. We residents have been facing a lot of inconvenience. It is difficult for commuters to pass across the slippery and overflowing drainage water.”

According to HMWSSB, the major cause for sewer system blockage and overflowing manholes is food waste and plastic being dumped into manholes and drain openings connected to manholes. These eateries are notorious for dumping waste into manholes. “We have found this problem in areas like Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Tolichowki, Asif Nagar, Mehdipatnam, Shaikpet, Attapur, Nagole, and areas in Old City,” he said.

The official added that these areas are lined with eateries, and many of them don’t have the mandatory oil traps.

The traps prevent oil from flowing into the underground drainage. Oil collected from restaurant kitchens should be disposed of like regular waste and handed over to the garbage collector. But this is not done, he says.

“The oil coats the underground pipes and reduces their carrying capacity. Meat waste and bones wrapped in plastic covers are also surreptitiously packed into manholes. This is what we retrieve from the sewage during cleaning and inspections,” he said.