The four lakes that supplied water to Chennai have dried out because of lack of rainfall last year. Government officials warn that even tap water supply will be affected. Government desalination plants have been pressed into action.
The severe drought-like situation in Chennai is reflecting on the city's water reservoirs now. Considered to be the worst in the past 140 years, the drought has dried up the reservoirs in the region.
This has severely impacted the drinking water availability in the city. To add to it, government officials warned that even tap water may come down to a trickle in the next few days.
In fact, it has been reported that even pipe water is being supplied once in every three to four days. Speaking to the NDTV, Arun Roy of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage Board, said, "We are supplying between 450 to 470 million litres of water every day compared to the normal requirement of 830 million litres."
The government has close to 7,000 tankers across the city but people are cashing in on private tankers, which are taking advantage of the situation and doubling the price to Rs 1500 per tanker.
The NDTV report further says that the condition has worsened because the four lakes around Chennai that are the lifeline of the city have all dried up after the failure of monsoon last year.
Sekhar Raghavan of Rain Centre, a non-profit that promotes rainwater harvesting in the city, said, "This crisis was expected considering that the last monsoons had failed. But the shocker is that there has been no planning to deal with it. De-silting of lakes and reservoirs, and efforts to ensure recharge of groundwater have all been missing."
Chennai's desalination plants have been pressed into action and are working round the clock. While authorities are hoping that the rains expected in July will contribute to increasing the groundwater level, they are also apprehensive if things turned out differently.
