NEW DELHI: The floor of the Chembarambakkam reservoir is cracked open — all dry and sun baked. About 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away, in Chennai – India’s sixth largest city, millions of people are facing acute problem of water.

Chembarambakkam and the three other reservoirs which used to traditionally supply water to Chennai are nearly all dry, leaving the city suffering from water shortage. Tamil Nadu state government has been struggling to provide water to residents. Tamil Nadu now is unable to collect sufficient rain water and groundwater levels have also gone down.

Trucks carrying water are now supplying water to Chennai residents. Every day, hundreds of thousands of residents queue up for hours in soaring summer temperatures to fill their cans and plastic containers with water.

“Earlier we had water every day. Now, we get it every three to four days. We store the water in a small tank or 20-liter plastic pots at home,” said Suresh Subburaman, a resident of Chennai.  (Agencies)