Im sumi so much going to thank you so much for joining us on news asia today well we start with the heat wave that continues to batter india extreme temperatures across the north and the east of the country have cost hundreds of deaths in the south the searing hot spell has led to severe water shortages the situation has reached a crisis point in chennai this is india 6th biggest city chennais 4 main water reservoirs have dried up take a look at the satellite images from one year ago you can see the water levels there and this is what it looks like now residents are desperate for rain but monsoon season and will not do isnt supposed to come until late in the fall locals are now blaming authorities for failing to recognize the shortage and deal with it early on. Barren and almost bone dry this reservoir is down to its last one percent of water. A shepherd has led his animals to the last few drops. And this is what Red Hills Lake should look like. But now an acute drought has crippled chennais water supply after months of high temperatures and extreme water scarcity expects say the situation is great. For last 2 years theres a deficit in the rainfall that is one thing the 2nd thing this. Chile always go through the cycle of for fighting you we have the cycle where the rainfall actually frames the city and the city turned off the sand familys water more than 40 days ago since then theyve had to buy drinking water. They still get enough from the tap thanks to their underground tanks she recruited here. The systems collect and treat rainwater during the monsoon season. This way they can survive dry spells but now their reserves are running out. Of facts ok every month. And last month for what happened to my dogs ok i did not get the one a drop of water so that is one. Of the responsibilities. Shuts off its water supply the city turned to sending tanker trucks into desperate villages to fill them at top grown water wells. Tanker drivers also deliver waters from other regions throughout the country. People are suffering a lot from the scarcity and heavy demand for water weve had more than 500 books to deliver water. Only the neighborhoods are provided with free water though not every day deliveries often come with drama the mood among the locals is. Its not long before the situation escalates. I never know what we get water through that pump but it is sewage water and has a foul smell they will tell us to use that water for daily needs at the other end of the same street people get water delivered by water tanks every day but we dont get it residents here have had to pay water tax for the past 2 years now theyre demanding clean Water Supplies to fill up their own times. And recent times chennai has become one of indias key industrial engines in the building boom the city paved over not troll water sources the state Supreme Court has told tonight to stop this but little has been done. Several rivers flow through one is been widened to create another lane for river traffic the Water Quality is miserable this river like many here more like open sewers. For the garment of talking about early every one thing go through it treating it were acceptable foundered with can we use wayne and the 3 for that theyre there trying to eliminate industry at the meeting with all your fresh water. Outside chennai the result of industries appetite for fresh water is laid bare the water table has fallen dramatically on top of that the farmers grow rice and sugar cane. Develop. The women say their husbands are forced to seek walk in the cities to support their families. If it had rained it would have been better for the crops and for us but there is no water even to drink the situations disastrous. Back at the Red Hills Lake reservoir drug conditions make renovations easier the 1st upgrade since it was built in 1010 by british engineers the region has long struggled with periods of drought the State Government plans to invest duckie 3000000 euros in the water supply but chennai is holding out for the monsoon only my old rains are forecast not nearly enough to quench the thirst. And we can get the latest on the story british bandaging is standing by in delhi monitoring the situation in chennai for us good to see you we heard the accusation in our report from locals that authorities did not do enough to get ahead of the situation is that a fair accusation heiser me to a great extent yes i would say and thats what a number of experts are saying as well you must bear in mind that chennai which is a couple of the state of time allowed to a longer time and not to get rains from whats called the northeast monsoons of these happened between the months of october and december now as far back as generally it became clear that these monsoons were of failure in many ways which is to say that the state of time in that one heads by extension did not get the amount of rainfall that was expected this very for is important to feel the reza was that feeds you saw a glimpse of those reza was which are completely dried up in that report that you just said now the Student Government knew about this in january they instituted a bit of water rationing but thats about it so you basically had a situation in which youre now i was heading to an acute water shortage in the summer months and a State Government that really wasnt prepared but beyond this to me what is really important to look at is beyond the Current Administration of the current government it is literally been a failure of successive governments in successive administrations in chennai to stop the massive spread of open eyes are generating is a fairly a green city it has clearly a vase it has 4 reza was it has 5 wetlands 6 forests most of these online polluted and not usable a lot of them have dried up its literally been poor poor old Water Management to blame for successive years a lot of this openness infamous row that i mention has been happening on the banks of the river as it has been happening on lake beds so a lot of these waters sources have been depleted without any or to me to replace them. So the situation is bad a race youre saying and it looks like its only going to get worse what can be done at this point other than waiting for rain while at the moment im a is doing what you do best which is look at Short Term Solutions in which theyre trying to bulk up the resources that are available to the city and by that i mean looking at the 3 major desalinization plants that provide water to the city theyre working at nearly Maximum Capacity to achieve maximum efficiency other than that the number of tankers that are being made available in the city has gone up there are proposals that are talks to bring in piped water from more than 200 kilometers away and there is also talk of sending in water through 3 wagons into the city thats the short term major offer but of course that throws open the longer term question as to what is generally is the Long Term Strategy to manage the situation in the future and that is where exports of course knowing that things like really water harvesting need to be implemented in form so that the city has water as a was to tide over these kinds of videos and there is also an appeal being made to the citys residents to perhaps change their water Consumption Habits because clearly geny. Doesnt have so much water that it can get pretty witnessed all up on when needed. Bannerjee reporting in delhi for us thank you very much. Now its a ritual many of us are familiar with the experience of getting up in the morning and going to school for some children the path to the classroom is more difficult than others in the end mark more than half of the countrys children live in poverty according to the United Nations childrens Agency Unicef and half of 17 year olds enter adulthood with little or no Education Access to schooling is part of the problem in areas where there is no public transport and schools are thin on the ground a new initiative is addressing just that problem take a look. Biking to beat the school bell. Not long ago these kids had to walk to classes for some a journey of up to 2 hours now with pedal power it takes only minutes. An initiative called less walk to the recycle bikes. Students who live more than 2 kilometers from school are 1st in line to get a life changing ride. And when set up less work to give kids easier access to education. These bikes can help students get to school in just 50 minutes rather than one hour by food they would. Be better focused on their education so hopefully wont drop out. Of founded less work after a string of bart shearing companies pulled out of singapore and malaysia they live thousands of behind so 10 started shipping them to me and ma. And now local kids like this are reaping the benefits. If i get over that i have more time to study and play with friends when i let them know i wont need to get up so early and walk for 2 hours. I dont know who id like to. See i never have a bike i wont be so tired from all the walking oh man. If all goes to plan less work hopes to hand out 100000. 00 bikes over the next 5 years giving a rolling start to these kids future all right thats it for now be sure to check out our other stories on w dot com slash asia or on facebook and twitter. Today is old world yoga day so well leave you with a massive session in the indian city of brunch with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi leading the bending and stretching 30000 yoga enthusiasts will see you next time. Its time to take stuff from a. Response to a. Tumbler of just such. And fun for the troops. To come down trends and coming up on. Time for. The new ws coming up ahead. And on demand. Language courses. As the conflict between iran and the u. S. Over talks on ships is heating up u. S. Authorities declare launch bits of iranian as bases uncertain and demand u. S. Registered aircraft must avoid the sector other International Carriers are following suit. And terry who with the head of taiwans fox kong is stepping down to enter politics following a bit of divine intervention. Also in the show rags to riches thai style however once for some of the fishermen is making millions today selling fish on facebook. This is business. As welcome as a military clash between the u. S. And iran looks only to have been narrowly averted the tensions are making the air above iran unsafe some of the worlds biggest allies voiding flying over the sec over a section of iranian airspace after a u. S. Military drone was shot down americas federal Aviation Administration has banned all u. S. Registered passenger jets from passing through iranian controlled parts of the gulf of oman and the strait of hormuz other areas are also taking action. A Global Hawk Drone like this one has a wingspan greater than a boeing 737 after one was downed over the strait of hormuz the u. S. Federal Aviation Administration began to fear an actual commercial jetliner could be next