Chennai: Chennai’s thirsty citizens have a new friend now and a Hollywood celebrity at that. Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio has internationalised the water crisis in Tamil Nadu’s capital city by posting on his instagram account the BBC report on the misery of dry taps at home and empty kudams waiting for the government water-tankers on the streets.
“Only rain can save Chennai from this situation”, began the Titanic star’s pick from the BBC reporter K. Muralidharan’s graphic account of the city’s misery. “A well completely empty, and a city without water”, said DiCaprio’s post from the BBC report that has gone viral, getting over 50,000 likes and 5800 comments in less than 20 hours—which should not surprise considering that he is not only a hugely popular movie star but also an equally hugely passionate environmentalist championing the green cause of Mother Earth.
In a tight-graphic edit of the original, the star’s post narrated how Chennai “is in crisis, after the four main water reservoirs ran completely dry”. “The acute water shortage has forced the city to scramble for urgent solutions and residents have to stand in line for hours to get water from government tanks. “
“As the water levels depleted, hotels and restaurants started to shut down temporarily, and the air con was turned off in the city’s metro. Officials in the city continue to try and find alternative sources of water – but the community continues to pray for rain”, reads the DiCaprio post while providing the links to the original BBC report.
For the Government and its administrators still in a denial mode on the water crisis — Minister S P Velumani has even accused the media of ‘fabricating and exaggerating’ the issue—the international attention drawn to the Tamil capital’s misery by DiCaprio drawing attention to the BBC report should be a big embarrassment. For the gasping Chennaiite, it could be a sip of sweet lemonade.
