India's 6th largest city just ran out of water

In southern India, the four main water reservoirs for the city of Chennai (once known as Madras) have reportedly run completely dry. Chennai is the sixth largest city in India.

"Only rain can save Chennai from this situation," a Chennai city official told BBC Tamil:

The acute water shortage has forced the city to scramble for urgent solutions, including drilling new boreholes.

Residents have had to stand in line for hours to get water from government tanks, and restaurants have closed due to the lack of water.

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Officials are trying to find alternative sources of water, with the city's water department starting to identify and extract water from quarries.

But the big concern is the dry reservoirs and low groundwater levels.

BBC News: Chennai water crisis: City's reservoirs run dry

PHOTO: The city of Chennai, India, as seen in the early morning from the rooftop of the Hilton Chennai. Many of the Indian city's hotels and restaurants have limited services, some have shut down, as a result of the water crisis. [source: pxhere.com, CC Public Domain]