It’s the month of June and the heat seems to be steadily increasing. One cannot remember the last time the sound of the rain and the smell of the earth filled our senses. All around the city, water scarcity is slowly beginning to pose issues. Two major sectors that are being hit by this are restaurants and hospitals. Some eateries have even cut down on afternoon lunch in order to save water. As private tankers limit the supply of water, the water-related expenses of hotels have increased up to 25% in the past few weeks.

G. Charles Vasanthakumar who is the consultant for restaurant chains such as Mainland China and Adyar Ananda Bhavan, spoke of the reduced production and operating hours due to the lack of rain. Chennai Hotels Association President M. Ravi reported: “We are also planning to offer finger bowls to wash hands instead of buckets to save as much water. Hotels with up to 100 seats capacity need a 12-kl tanker load of water daily. There is much delay in getting water supply.” Restaurants have been using banana leaves instead of plates and have also been serving half a glass of water to reduce wastage of drinking water.

40 tankers a day are visiting the Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and hostels. The dean, R. Jayanthi said: “We have closed redundant taps to prevent leakages. For watering plants, we are using water cans instead of hoses.” A doctor said: “We have cut down water consumption. For instance, instead of using two taps in the operation theatre, we are using one tap with RO water supply.” Where millions pray it shouldn't rain in England, the water presents itself in abundance, and where millions pray for rain, there is not a single drop. We can only hope that both prayers will be answered as soon as possible.