Tamil Nadu: Train from Jolarpettai carrying 2.5 million litres of water reaches a parched Chennai

Water for parched Chennai has reached the city on Friday morning, the railways said, as a train with 50 tank wagons (BTPN), with 50,000 litres of water in each, left Jolarpettai at 7.20 am and reached the Villivakkam Railway Station in Chennai about four hours later.

The train is to be inaugurated by Tamil Nadu ministers, officials said, after which the water will be unloaded and distributed for use through proper channels.

Jolarpettai is 217 km away from Chennai in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district.

The train was supposed to reach on Thursday, but leakages in the valves led to the delay.

Another train is expected to be pressed into action soon, thereby bringing in 10 million litres of water every day into the city.

The cost of each trip is around 8.15 lakhs. While the journey to Chennai with a full load of water could take around five-six hours, the return journey with empty tankers would be faster, requiring a little over two hours to make the trip back.

Chennai has been grappling with an acute water crisis over the past four months. The southern metropolis is facing a daily water deficit of at least 200 million litres, and the four reservoirs supplying to the city have run dry. The rich haven't been spared either, but their suffering is nothing compared to the working class.

Rampant unplanned development, deficient monsoon last year coupled with inadequate urban planning has brought Chennai to its knees.

The Tamil Nadu government had earlier requested the railways to help them ferry the water to the city.

(With inputs from PTI)