The 2019 Chennai water crisis was a water crisis occurring in India, most notably in the coastal city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.[1] On 19 June 2019, Chennai city officials declared that "Day Zero", or the day when almost no water is left, had been reached, as all the four main reservoirs supplying water to the city had run dry.[2][3] Two years of deficient monsoon rainfall, particularly in late 2017 and throughout much of 2018 had led to this crisis.[4]
Because tap water has stopped running, some families have been relying on alternative water sources such as distant, unreliable public water pumps, and costly private water tankers.[5]
Chennai is a city of over 11 million people, around the size of New York City, and is the fourth largest city in India.[6] The city is an automotive engineering hub and contains many automotive factories that are built around the reservoirs of the city. Mismanagement of the city’s water resources and weak monsoons for the last four years reduced the city’s reservoirs to 0.1% of normal capacity in June 2019.[6] Water became a valuable resource in Chennai and experienced exploitation as wealthier residents paid to dig deep bore wells on their land and sold water to other residents or businesses.[7] This practice was allowed by the government and resulted in the groundwater aquifer to be drained dramatically at twice the level of annual recharge. Protests erupted over the Chennai government’s lack of action on the issue as the water was no longer a basic human right in Chennai.[7] The government also faced pressure on their management of the city’s four main reservoirs; Poondi, Cholavaram, Redhills and Chembarambakkam.[6] Factories and infrastructure built in the catchments of these reservoirs were unregulated and therefore much of the rain that fell ended up in the ocean or used in excess by these factories. This further exacerbated the issue and limited the amount of water that entered the reservoirs for public consumption. Monsoon rains in 2019 have been more plentiful than in years past and have raised the reservoir levels to around 30% capacity.[8] Chennai has declared itself water secure because of the recent rains but concern remains about the future of water security in Chennai and many other Indian cities such as Bangalore which have similar regulation issues. An Indian government think tank predicted that 21 Indian cities will be out of groundwater by 2020, and the impact of future droughts in India brought upon by climate change will put the entire country at risk unless stronger regulations are put in place.[9]
Chennai has historically relied on annual monsoon rains to replenish its water reservoirs since the rivers are polluted with sewage.
There are four reservoirs in the city, namely, Red Hills, Cholavaram, Poondi and Chembarambakkam, with a combined capacity of 11,057 mcft.[10]
Water Level of Chembarambakkam Lake (15 March 2017)
Extreme droughtedit
Three years of failed monsoon in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The 2018 monsoon season was one of the driest ever recorded in Chennai, as only 343.7 mm of rain had fallen compared to an average of 757.6 mm, which was a 55% rainfall deficit. Additionally, the entire state of Tamil Nadu had recorded a 23% rainfall deficit in that season.[11] A major heatwave in India from May to June 2019 further increasing the problem by evaporating any water still left in reservoirs.
Government mismanagementedit
Government mismanagement and unplanned construction has also been a factor to blame for this crisis.[12]
Impactedit
Private Water Tanker in Chennai (15 March 2017)
Millions of people are without consistent access to water. A lack of rainwater and groundwater has left four reservoirs that supply water to the city completely dry. The inability to meet the demand for water has forced businesses like hotels and restaurants to close. Water tankers from areas of Tamil Nadu unaffected by drought have been bringing water into some areas of the city. However, government tankers can take up to a month to appear after requested, so many families, wealthy residents, and business owners have opted to pay for costly private water tankers. The poor who live in slums do not have this option; a family in Chennai's slums may receive as little as 30 litres (7.9 US gallons) of water every day compared to an average American household which uses 1,150 litres (300 US gallons) of water a day.[13][5]
Many fights over water have also broken out due to the conflict. In one such conflict that occurred on 15 June 2019, a woman was stabbed and the perpetrator was turned in to the police.[14]
See alsoedit
Cape Town water crisis – a similar water crisis that occurred in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018
Referencesedit
^Nagarajan, Ganesh; Megson, Jody; Wu, Jin (3 February 2021). "How One of the World's Wettest Major Cities Ran Out of Water". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
^Murphy, Paul P.; Mezzofiore, Gianluca (20 June 2019). "Chennai, India, is almost out of water. Satellite images show its nearly bone-dry reservoirs". CNN. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
^Varadhan, Sudarshan (20 June 2019). "Hotels, companies cut back on water use as taps run dry in Chennai". Business Standard India. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
^India Today Web Desk (20 June 2019). "Rain respite for parched Chennai, IMD predicts moderate showers for next 6 days". India Today. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
^ abMasih, Niha; Slater, Joanna (28 June 2019). "As a major Indian city runs out of water, 9 million people pray for rain". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
^Lakshmi, K. (23 October 2012). "Rains replenish city's reservoirs". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
^"Dry end to monsoon season, all-time low rainfall in the city: Met | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India. 23 December 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
^Lakshmi, K. (28 June 2019). "Chennai's Day Zero: It's not just meteorology but mismanagement that's made the city run dry". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 July 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
^Yeung, Jessie (19 June 2019). . CNN. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
^"28-year-old Chennai woman stabbed by neighbour over water dispute". The New Indian Express. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
Further readingedit
Kalia, Bhrigu (2020), Water Crisis in Cities: The Case of 'Day Zero' in Chennai, India(PDF)
January 01, 1970
2019, chennai, water, crisis, water, crisis, occurring, india, most, notably, coastal, city, chennai, tamil, nadu, june, 2019, chennai, city, officials, declared, that, zero, when, almost, water, left, been, reached, four, main, reservoirs, supplying, water, c. The 2019 Chennai water crisis was a water crisis occurring in India most notably in the coastal city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu 1 On 19 June 2019 Chennai city officials declared that Day Zero or the day when almost no water is left had been reached as all the four main reservoirs supplying water to the city had run dry 2 3 Two years of deficient monsoon rainfall particularly in late 2017 and throughout much of 2018 had led to this crisis 4 Because tap water has stopped running some families have been relying on alternative water sources such as distant unreliable public water pumps and costly private water tankers 5 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Extreme drought 1 2 Government mismanagement 2 Impact 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingBackground editMain article Water management in Chennai nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 20km12miles nbsp Chembarambakkam nbsp CHENNAI nbsp Poondi nbsp Cholavaram nbsp Red Hills The four reservoirs Chennai is a city of over 11 million people around the size of New York City and is the fourth largest city in India 6 The city is an automotive engineering hub and contains many automotive factories that are built around the reservoirs of the city Mismanagement of the city s water resources and weak monsoons for the last four years reduced the city s reservoirs to 0 1 of normal capacity in June 2019 6 Water became a valuable resource in Chennai and experienced exploitation as wealthier residents paid to dig deep bore wells on their land and sold water to other residents or businesses 7 This practice was allowed by the government and resulted in the groundwater aquifer to be drained dramatically at twice the level of annual recharge Protests erupted over the Chennai government s lack of action on the issue as the water was no longer a basic human right in Chennai 7 The government also faced pressure on their management of the city s four main reservoirs Poondi Cholavaram Redhills and Chembarambakkam 6 Factories and infrastructure built in the catchments of these reservoirs were unregulated and therefore much of the rain that fell ended up in the ocean or used in excess by these factories This further exacerbated the issue and limited the amount of water that entered the reservoirs for public consumption Monsoon rains in 2019 have been more plentiful than in years past and have raised the reservoir levels to around 30 capacity 8 Chennai has declared itself water secure because of the recent rains but concern remains about the future of water security in Chennai and many other Indian cities such as Bangalore which have similar regulation issues An Indian government think tank predicted that 21 Indian cities will be out of groundwater by 2020 and the impact of future droughts in India brought upon by climate change will put the entire country at risk unless stronger regulations are put in place 9 Chennai has historically relied on annual monsoon rains to replenish its water reservoirs since the rivers are polluted with sewage There are four reservoirs in the city namely Red Hills Cholavaram Poondi and Chembarambakkam with a combined capacity of 11 057 mcft 10 nbsp Water Level of Chembarambakkam Lake 15 March 2017 Extreme drought edit Three years of failed monsoon in 2016 2017 and 2018 The 2018 monsoon season was one of the driest ever recorded in Chennai as only 343 7 mm of rain had fallen compared to an average of 757 6 mm which was a 55 rainfall deficit Additionally the entire state of Tamil Nadu had recorded a 23 rainfall deficit in that season 11 A major heatwave in India from May to June 2019 further increasing the problem by evaporating any water still left in reservoirs Government mismanagement edit Government mismanagement and unplanned construction has also been a factor to blame for this crisis 12 Impact edit nbsp Private Water Tanker in Chennai 15 March 2017 Millions of people are without consistent access to water A lack of rainwater and groundwater has left four reservoirs that supply water to the city completely dry The inability to meet the demand for water has forced businesses like hotels and restaurants to close Water tankers from areas of Tamil Nadu unaffected by drought have been bringing water into some areas of the city However government tankers can take up to a month to appear after requested so many families wealthy residents and business owners have opted to pay for costly private water tankers The poor who live in slums do not have this option a family in Chennai s slums may receive as little as 30 litres 7 9 US gallons of water every day compared to an average American household which uses 1 150 litres 300 US gallons of water a day 13 5 Many fights over water have also broken out due to the conflict In one such conflict that occurred on 15 June 2019 a woman was stabbed and the perpetrator was turned in to the police 14 See also editCape Town water crisis a similar water crisis that occurred in Cape Town South Africa in 2018References edit Nagarajan Ganesh Megson Jody Wu Jin 3 February 2021 How One of the World s Wettest Major Cities Ran Out of Water Bloomberg News Retrieved 15 February 2021 Murphy Paul P Mezzofiore Gianluca 20 June 2019 Chennai India is almost out of water Satellite images show its nearly bone dry reservoirs CNN Retrieved 21 June 2019 Varadhan Sudarshan 20 June 2019 Hotels companies cut back on water use as taps run dry in Chennai Business Standard India Retrieved 21 June 2019 India Today Web Desk 20 June 2019 Rain respite for parched Chennai IMD predicts moderate showers for next 6 days India Today Retrieved 21 June 2019 a b Masih Niha Slater Joanna 28 June 2019 As a major Indian city runs out of water 9 million people pray for rain The Washington Post Retrieved 29 June 2019 a b c downtoearth org in blog water chennai water crisis a wake up call for indian cities 66024 a b The Water Crisis In Chennai India Who s To Blame And How Do You Fix It NPR org NPR 18 July 2019 Retrieved 1 July 2020 India Water Supply Agency Declares Chennai Water Secure 20 November 2019 thediplomat com 2019 08 Chennai sman made water crisis Lakshmi K 23 October 2012 Rains replenish city s reservoirs The Hindu Chennai Kasturi amp Sons Retrieved 3 July 2019 Dry end to monsoon season all time low rainfall in the city Met Chennai News Times of India The Times of India 23 December 2018 Retrieved 1 July 2019 Lakshmi K 28 June 2019 Chennai s Day Zero It s not just meteorology but mismanagement that s made the city run dry The Hindu Retrieved 1 July 2019 via www thehindu com Yeung Jessie 19 June 2019 India s sixth biggest city is almost entirely out of water CNN Archived from the original on 20 June 2019 Retrieved 20 June 2019 28 year old Chennai woman stabbed by neighbour over water dispute The New Indian Express 15 June 2019 Retrieved 29 June 2019 Further reading editKalia Bhrigu 2020 Water Crisis in Cities The Case of Day Zero in Chennai India PDF Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2019 Chennai water crisis amp oldid 1215746094, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
