"Complicating the issue are the devastating effects of climate change.
Monsoon rains have been more erratic and droughts more common,
threatening farmer's harvests"
Srini
Swaminathan, who took this photograph of Chembarambakkam reservoir from
a plane, told CNN: "I have been living here since 1992 and have never
seen anything like this before."
India's sixth biggest city is almost entirely out of water
New Delhi (CNN)The floor of the Chembarambakkam reservoir is cracked open, dry and sun-baked. About 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away, in Chennai, India's sixth largest city, millions of people are running out of water.
Chembarambakkam
and the three other reservoirs that have traditionally supplied Chennai
are nearly all dry, leaving the city suffering from an acute water
shortage, said Jayaram Venkatesan, an activist in the city.
Due
to an inability to collect sufficient rain water combined with low
groundwater levels, the Tamil Nadu state government has been struggling
to provide water to residents.
With
the reservoirs dry, water is being brought directly into Chennai
neighborhoods in trucks. Every day, hundreds of thousands of residents
have no choice but to stand in line for hours in soaring summer
temperatures, filling dozens of cans and plastic containers.
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WATER CRISIS TIED TO CLIMATE CRISIS
