Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 28: The Co-ordination Committee of Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHARA) and Pahalgam Hotel & Restaurant Owners Association (PHAROA) has said it has all along opposed the idea of construction of individual STPs by hotel industry as it will not serve any purpose if the waste water and effluent of hotels alone is treated.
In a media release, the committee said it would be realistic if waste water/effluent from residential areas, commercial establishments and related sources in the Valley and tourist destinations is treated by common STPs before being discharged into water bodies.
The committee said it is the only guarantee for preventing environment and water bodies from getting polluted. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that common STPs are constructed across the Valley to preserve environment and safeguard water bodies.
The statement said the committee held extensive parleys with confidant emissary of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who acknowledged that construction of individual STPs would, in fact, serve no purpose and the construction of Common STPs by the Government was the only solution.
The hotel industry committee thanked its hotel, restaurant and guest house members for making the shutdown call a complete success across the Valley in solidarity with those hotels which have been sealed by State Pollution Control Board, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Pahalgam Development Authority for want of Individual Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and other reasons.
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