Water crisis forces Chennai IT employees to work from home

Chennai IT companies situated on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) have asked their staff to work from home due to scarcity of water.

It is reported that due to low rainfall, the water crisis that has hit Chennai is likely to continue for another couple of months.

The IT firms on OMR, with a majority working 24×7, consume a minimum of 60 per cent of water, that is, about three crore litres a day. Therefore, 12 organisations have asked their staff, numbering about 5000, to work from home.

Several firms have taken steps to reduce water consumption. Many have resorted to using paper plates and cups to serve food and beverages. Several cafetarias have been shut down and the flow of water in the taps has been reduced. The use of showers provided in the gyms has been stopped too. That is not all, in some offices, only alternate taps and a restricted number of toilets are operational. Many taps have a device installed to drastically reduce the water that comes out. In fact, the water comes out literally in the form of mist. This has helped save a lot of water consumption.

In some offices, the area where staff members were allowed to rinse out their tiffin boxes has also been sealed.

Despite 30 per cent of property taxes reportedly going towards water and sewage, people are not really happy with what is being done to ease the situation, which has now become an annual feature.