Hotel Leela Kempinski Kovalam in Kerala has been trying to get a water connection for the past eight years but without success, a hotel executive claimed last week. A surprised government, meanwhile, said the matter will be looked into.

The 182-room hotel overlooking the Arabian sea, has been running from pillar to post to get water from the Kerala Water Authority, the executive said. "When we took over this hotel in 2005, the taps were dry and as a result, every day we now spend Rs.30,000 to get water from elsewhere," said the executive.

The hotel chain brought the property from MFar Group of Hotels, then owned by Oman-based businessman Mohammed Ali, who had purchased it from the state-run Indian Tourism Development Corp (ITDC) in 2002. State Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar said the issue has not come to his notice so far. "Now that I have come to know of it, by all means I will look into this issue...our government is serious about providing investors all the necessary infrastructure," said Kumar.

IANS