Chennai goes dry, DMK stages protest

Chennai is practically the first Indian city to have gone dry with the Central Water Commission reporting a rainfall deficit of 41 per cent in Tamil Nadu till June 13 this year.

Most of Chennai's population today is dependent on water tankers and curtailed municipal supply for daily requirement of drinking water. News television screens show women waiting for hours in long queues and scurrying to water tankers to get water which barely meets the drinking and kitchen requirements. Water for sanitation is scarce. Laundry and bathing are nothing short of luxury in today's Chennai.