Oscar winning Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, known for his environmental activism, has raised awareness about the ongoing water crisis in Chennai. DiCaprio shared a photograph of a dry well on his Instagram profile. He wrote: "Only rain can save Chennai from this situation. A well, completely empty, and a city without water. The southern Indian city of Chennai is in crisis, after the four main water reservoirs ran 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 tankers. As the water levels depleted, hotels and restaurants started to shut 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 continue to pray for rain."
Chennai has been facing a severe water crisis. While Cholavaram (full capacity 1,081 million cubic feet), Redhills (full capacity 3,300 million cubic feet) and Chembarambakkam (3,645 million cubic feet) lakes that supply water to Chennai have gone dry, there is only 19 million cubic feet water left in the Poondi reservoir (full capacity of 3,231 million cubic feet), according to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, reported news agency IANS.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who works extensively as a climate champion, had visited India in 2015 to film a segment for his 2016 documentary film Beyond the Flood. He also visited the Taj Mahal during his trip.
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