Chennai is facing acute crisis of drinking water as all four lakes around the city have dried up.
Tamilnadu is witnessing the worst drought in 140 years and require 830 million litres of water a day.
An official told that the Chennai, which requires 830 million litres of water per day, has been receiving only half of it for the past few days.
To make matters worse, the four main reservoirs around Chennai – Poondi, Red Hills, Cholavaram and Chembarambakkam – are all running dry, which means piped water for drinking is being supplied to certain areas only once in three days.
Tamil Nadu is facing its worst water crisis situation in 140 years where the drinking water supply to the state’s capital has been cut down by 50 per cent whereas the city requires atleast 830 million litres of water everyday, water supply officials said. Authorities have pressed called for 300 water tankers in the city to ease the situation.
Parallels to the droughts in 2003, considered to be the worst in the recent years, have been drawn. Notably, rain harvesting was made a norm then to manage the crisis.
The report further added that Veeranam Lake in Neyveli, a town more than 200 km away from Chennai which receives supply through a huge pipeline, is parched too. Authorities are taking all efforts to try and pump at least 80 million litres a day through the same pipeline.
Apart from desalination plants in Chennai, water is also being brought in from stone quarries in Kancheeputam and Thiruvallur, the authorities added.
Green activists have said the drought like situation is due to the ill-maintenance of thousands of water bodies in Chennai and its neighbouring districts.
