Severe Water Crisis in Indian City Chennai Cripples Hospitality Sector

Chennai, one of the biggest and most-visited cities in southern India, is facing its worst water crisis, affecting the hospitality sector in a big way. The capital of Tamil Nadu has been hit by a drought for the third year in a row. Chennai’s four reservoirs together had only 31 million cubic feet of water, against a capacity of 11.2 billion cubic feet. There are many reasons that cause the crisis to be the worst this year: three years of poor monsoon, unbridled urbanization leading to destruction of water bodies, over-exploitation of groundwater, and the absence of perennial water bodies. Chennai's largest source of drinking water, Chembarambakkam Lake, is bone dry with only sludge and mire left in the middle. More than 4.8 million foreign tourists visited Tamil Nadu in 2017, making the state one of the top three tourism destinations in the country, according to India’s Ministry of Tourism. The Approved Tour Guides’ Association, Chennai said most foreign touris