Watch: Time-lapse video shows Chennai’s Puzhal lake drying up in months

Chennai: As the city of Chennai battles a severe water crisis that has forced city officials to cut down pipeline water supply by 40 per cent, a time-lapse video of satellite images showing a lake drying up has emerged online.

 

The timelapse imagery of Chennai's disappearing reservoirs is mind boggling. That's roughly 3 billion cubic feet of water gone in less than a year https://t.co/NcwvYkNrcr pic.twitter.com/hEdu7SXOCC

— Brian L Kahn (@blkahn) June 21, 2019

 

The video made from the compilation of satellite images released by ESA Sentinel shows rapidly depleting water levels in Puzhal lake - one of five key water bodies keeping the city afloat - between April and June - highlighting the severity of the situation.

Groundwater in Chennai and surrounding areas is fed by Puzhal and four other lakes - Sholavaram, Kaliveli, Pulicat and Maduranthakam all of which are located within a 60-kilometre radius of the city.

However continued misuse in the form of encroachment on these water bodies have dramatically reduced each of these lake’s capacity to hold water and replenish underground water tables.

Adding to that, the heatwave in the state has added to the worries, with temperatures frequently crossing the 40 degrees Celsius mark and putting more pressure on the already stressed water supply.

The combination of the heatwave and water shortages has placed Chennai on top of a WWF Water report of megacities at risk of drought and scarcity. The report ranks Kolkata at No 2 and includes Istanbul, Bangkok, Tehran and Los Angeles in the top 10.

 

Chennai was #1 on @WWFWaterRisk list of megacities at risk of drought & scarcity. Cities must become water stewards. Rest of top 10?

2 Kolkata (14M)
3 Istanbul (14M)
4 Chengdu (18M)
5 Bangkok (14M)
6 Tehran (14M)
7 Jakarta (31M)
8 Los Angeles (18M)
9 Tianjin (15M)
10 Cairo (19M) https://t.co/0yezDw5fKe

— WWF Water 💧🐟 (@WWFLeadWater) June 19, 2019