Water crisis: Eateries leave citizens hungry
KOCHI: Lunch was not a very sumptuous affair for employees and the public in general who depend on city eateries on Tuesday. In fact, many had no choice at all as a majority of restaurants in the city downed their shutters due to water shortage. Around 60% of the 1,800 restaurants, including small and medium ones, remained closed till 3pm. According to the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), the eateries were left with no option after water supply was disrupted since Sunday midnight owing to the maintenance work being carried out by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). The association said there was so much confusion over water supply since the repair work was earlier postponed and later not communicated clearly by KWA, resulting in restaurants failing to store enough water. "Restaurants had no option but to close down. The crisis became worse as water tankers were not allowed to enter the city during day time. If the authorities had given consent, the crisis could ha