Oil slick from eateries invites MCD notice

Some of the hottest restaurants in south Delhi are facing the threat of being shut down.

Some of the hottest restaurants in south Delhi are facing the threat of being shut down.

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Alarmed at the fact that storm water drains in the city are getting clogged with grease and oil flowing out of restaurant kitchens, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is serving notice to all the restaurants in south Delhi to install oil and grease traps to stem such leakage.

The restaurants that fail to act in 14 days will be shut down by the civic agency, which has cancelled the licence of a restaurant called Gola South End in the Defence Colony market.

The restaurant authorities could not be reached for comment.

Grease and oil traps are devices to check the outflow of such effluents.

To ensure that they don't find their way into storm water drains and create havoc during the monsoon, the civic body has decided to act tough against all the restaurants in the city. Most of the leading restaurants are in south Delhi.

Apart from 18 restaurants in the Defence Colony market, all the restaurants in Greater Kailash I, New Friends Colony, South Extension Part I and II, and Lajpat Nagar are being served notice.

The MCD said most of them had started complying with the order. However, two in Defence Colony have asked for a week's time.

"A survey was conducted by us and we found oil and grease from these restaurants were clogging the drains, which results in overflowing whenever it rains. This was defeating our purpose of cleaning the drains. So we have asked them to install the traps in their restaurants or we would take closure action against them. All the leading restaurants as well as smaller eateries have been served notice," a senior MCD official said.

The civic agency's health department will carry out an inspection on this.

In addition to this, the civic agency is planning to take closure action against restaurants that are dirtying the area outside their premises.

"There are a number of smaller restaurants that carry out washing of utensils on the pavements, which is not only unhygienic but it damages the footpath. We will be taking action against them," the official said.

To begin with, some of the restaurants in New Friends Colony will be shut down, he added.