Water crisis in one of India’s largest cities

As India deals with a deadly drought that has cost hundreds of lives, its sixth largest city faces the prospect of running dry as the reservoirs supplying drinking water are depleted.

Chennai, capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, has been in this state for weeks, with the city’s water company cutting water supplies even as temperatures spike above 40C (104F).

Indian courts have accused the state government of negligence in its response to the crisis, and specifically of intending to merely wait for the seasonal monsoon rather than take any immediate measures against the water shortage.

Water is delivered throughout the city by tankers as taps are no longer functional, and families subsist on a few pots of water per day.

These may only be signs of a larger crisis to come, however.

In a report from 2018, an Indian government think tank, NITI Aayog, declared that 21 Indian cities will have depleted their groundwater supply by 2020.

Villages in rural areas have already experienced this depletion, leading some to flee to the cities. But even Delhi, India’s capital, is currently undersupplied, with the Delhi Jal Board missing peak demand by 25%.

Neighboring Pakistan is likewise reaching crisis levels, with per capita water availability falling by 50% over the last decade.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, meanwhile, claims the water crisis is being exaggerated by the media.