CHENNAI: All the four major reservoirs supplying water to Chennai has dried up and the only hope for the city to tide over the water crisis is the water in Veeranam lake and the two desalination plants supplying 200 million litres of day (MLD) water to the city besides the groundwater.
Poondi and Cholavaram had already dried up and now Chembarambakkam lake and Puzhal lake in Red Hills have also gone dry. A Chennai Metro Water official told Express all the reservoirs in the city has dried up and they are tapping alternate resources like groundwater and other water bodies which has water.
The shortage of water is being felt in flats and in almost all parts of the Chennai as the groundwater is slowly running out. “Many flats in and around Chennai are now dependent on water tankers as they have run out of groundwater,” said a water supplier.
“We have been taking water from our wells. Now it has dried up as such I have to run around filling up the huge drums which require at least 30 pots,” said Vijay Kumar, a shopkeeper in Nerkundram.In many parts of the city, residents are at the mercy of water tankers who charge an exorbitant fee for filling up the tanks. Interestingly, this is not a one-time crisis but solutions have been limited and strategies are worked out only when the crisis is felt, said a resident.