5-star hotels in Delhi to take environ-friendly steps by Sep

All five-star hotels in the city will take a number of environment-friendly steps to cut power and water consumption by September 30, which includes setting up of dedicated sewage treatment plant and solar water heating system.
As many as 32 five-star hotels today signed memorandum of understanding with Delhi Government expressing their commitment to comply with the 'Green Hotel Guidelines' under which they will have to take specific steps to protect the environment and reduce water and energy consumption.
As per the MoU, the hotels will have to set up dedicated sewage treatment plant by September 30 for recycling of waste water and ensure "zero discharge".

All the hotels will also have to install solar water heating system and set up facilities for conversion of organic solid waste into compost or bio-fuel within the prescribed deadline.
The hotels have also been told to develop green belt in their surroundings by September 30.
They have been asked to fully comply with the other measures under Green Hotels Guidelines such as energy auditing, auditing of water consumption, application of renewable energy by March 31, 2014.

The MoU was signed in presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, a strong votary of environment-friendly initiatives.
Officials said the five-star hotels in Delhi consume around 14 million litres of water daily and generate nearly 10 million litres of sewage everyday. They said punitive action will follow in case of non-compliance of the directive.

In her address, Dikshit appreciated the efforts of the Environment department for taking an important step to bring all the five-star hotels together and make them comply with the green initiatives.
"It is time to concentrate on compliance of Green Hotel Guidelines which facilitates promotion of measures relating to environment protection, waste reduction, water conservation and energy conservation," Dikshit said.
She said recycling of used water will go long way in reducing water consumption.
The Chief Minister exhorted the hotels to meet their obligations by the prescribed deadlines and said after December, 2013 all "big buildings" and restaurants would also be brought under the ambit of such green norms.