With little or no sign of rain and water bodies running dry across Chennia, the state capital is reeling under a water crisis. As of Thursday, Chennai’s four reservoirs together had only 31 million cubic feet (mcft) of water as against a total capacity of 11,257 mcft.
The IT Corridor along Old Mahabalipuram Road houses a large number of IT companies with an estimated four lakh employees, apart from the local population. This stretch is facing a severe water shortage, with protests reported every day demanding water supply.
This issue is not new. Tamil Nadu has been facing water shortage for the past several months after Chennai’s Porur Lake, which is considered one of the main sources of water, reached its lowest level. The locals are perturbed over the water crisis in addition to the soaring temperatures in the capital city.
Water crises in Tamil Nadu as borewells run dry; hotels not serving lunch to cut water usage
To tackle the water crisis, the city’s IT hub is taking steps to conserve water. From letting employees work from home to implementing water-conservation methods, IT companies are going that extra mile to save water.
The companies have embraced a BYOP policy – Bring Your Own (Disposable) Plates – for those bringing food from home. A software engineer working with a large IT company in Sholinganallur said that until last week, employees were provided with plates to eat. However, due to water scarcity, the supply of plates was stopped. Further more, few IT firms from Tamil Nadu had reportedly asked their employees to work from home.
Various hotels and restaurants in the city have also urged their customers to conserve water and conveyed their inability to offer lunch.
