Accordingly Tamilnadu's capital city is heading towards a potential drought like situation in 2019 with the northeast monsoons bringing in very little rainfall. Presently Chennai is staring at a 54%-deficit in rainfall and lakes surrounding the city, which are important sources of water, are drying up. Meanwhile according to S Janakarajan, Professor and Officiating Director at Madras Institute of Development Studies there are 3600 water bodies in Kanchipuram, Chennai and Tiruvallur districts, and 4,100 including those in Arakkonam.
Furthermore despite the huge number of water bodies, we are staring at a deficit. Hence the shortage of rainfall this season has threatened to dry up several lakes on the outskirts of Chennai, including Poondi, Cholavaram, Redhills and Chembarambakkam, which supply drinking water to the city.
Moreover these nine maps compare satellite images of these water bodies in December 2017 and 2018, to show that there is a stark reduction in the availability of water in these lakes. Raj Bhagat P, Senior Project Associate of WRI India said "Even when we have surplus water, we don't plan the water management based on future needs. When supply is more, consumption pattern changes causing over consumption".
