MALE was hit by a water shortage last Friday after a fire crippled its main desalination plant, causing the relocation of many tourists staying in hotels and guesthouses in the Maldivian capital to nearby resorts.
“Many guests were moved to hotels in nearby Hulumale island and to hotels located on the island where the international airport is located,” one hotelier said on Monday.
Supplies to residents and businesses were curtailed while India and Sri Lanka came to the rescue shipping several tonnes of bottled water.
Restaurants in the capital were also closed for a few days but have begun to open. As repairs may take a few more days for full supply to be restored, water from the tap is now supplied only for a few hours per day. Several locations in the capital are also distributing water.
“Just a few hotels are open in the city,” said another hotelier, adding that “we also have limited operations”.
However, such a problem of water shortage is not expected to hurt the country’s 100-odd resorts much, which have their own water production through a combination of desalination plants and rainwater harvesting, while bottled water is used for drinking.
