In Chennai, a coastal city of about 10 million and the capital of Tamil Nadu state, rapid development and rampant construction have overtaxed a once-abundant natural water supply, forcing the government to spend huge sums to desalinate sea water, bring water by train from hundreds of kilometers (miles) away and deploy an army of water trucks to people whose household taps have suddenly run dry.
Buckets are lowered down into an almost-dried well on the outskirts of Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Rapid development and rampant construction in the coastal city of about 10 million have overtaxed a once-abundant natural water supply, forcing the government to expend huge sums to desalinate sea water, bring water by train from hundreds of miles away and deploy an army of water trucks to people whose household taps have suddenly run dry. (Photo : Manish Swarup/AP/RSS)Indians fill drinking water at a water filling depot in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In Chennai, a coastal city of about 10 million and the capital of Tamil Nadu state, rapid development and rampant construction have overtaxed a once-abundant natural water supply, forcing the government to spend huge sums to desalinate sea water, bring water by train from hundreds of kilometers (miles) away and deploy an army of water trucks to people whose household taps have suddenly run dry. (Photo : Manish Swarup/AP/RSS)A homeless person burns garbage in the polluted river Cooum in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The southern Indian city of Chennai has one of the worlds fastest-growing economies, but its out of water, threatening to put a brake on all that growth. (Photo : Manish Swarup/AP/RSS)
