India’s Sixth Biggest City Is Almost Entirely out of Water

About 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away, in Chennai, India’s sixth largest city, millions of people are running out of water.
India’s Sixth Biggest City Is Almost Entirely out of Water
Indian residents stand around with plastic pots filled with drinking water at a distribution point in Chennai on June 19, 2019. Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images
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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.