2025
Absolute scarcity
<500 m3/person/year
Water availability is classified as Absolute scarcity.
The official published classification is Absolute scarcity for both 2025 and 2050.
- Groundwater before and after monsoon
- 2–5 metres below the ground surface
- 2025 and 2050 availability
- Absolute scarcity
What this assessment includes
Included in this result
- Groundwater: Before and after monsoon groundwater bands are available for 2023-24.
- Long-term availability: Both 2025 and 2050 published availability classifications are available.
Not included in this result
- Rainfall: Official rainfall context is not currently integrated into this JalWater result.
- Reservoir or supply context: Official reservoir or municipal-supply context is not currently integrated into this JalWater result.
- Water quality: Official water-quality evidence is not currently integrated into this JalWater result.
Scope
District-level evidence for Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Reporting periods: 2023-24, 2025, 2050. Last checked 29 Jun 2026. Neighbourhood, building, borewell, tap-water, and current supply conditions may differ.
Confidence: Moderate
Moderate confidence. The displayed records match Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and groundwater and long-term availability pairs are comparable within their published periods.
Confidence describes how well the evidence supports this result. It is not a safety, suitability, or city-quality rating.
Why this matters
The same official availability classification appears for both published periods. This does not establish a trend between them, so JalWater preserves the published bands without filling in the years between.
Groundwater depth does not show how much water is sustainably available, whether taps receive reliable supply, or whether the water is safe to drink.
Use this evidence
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Explore detailed official records
Seasonal groundwater bands
Published bands, not point measurements or a trend line.
Year
Before monsoon
After monsoon
2021-22
2 to 5 mbgl0 to 2 mbgl2022-23
Data not yet availableData not yet available2023-24
2 to 5 mbgl2 to 5 mbglExact technical bands are shown as published in metres below ground level (mbgl). A lower depth means groundwater was recorded closer to the surface. JalWater does not convert ranges into point measurements, line charts, or trends.
2025 and 2050 outlook
Only the two official published periods are shown.
2050
Absolute scarcity
<500 m3/person/year
Only the two published periods are shown. JalWater does not invent years between 2025 and 2050.
Recent local context for Chennai
Official datasets update slower than local news. News is recent local context and does not change the official data cards.
Official update
Chennai-local
Chennai received a major boost to its drinking water security as its three main reservoirs—Poondi, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam—reached full capacity for the first time in 29 years amid an erratic northeast monsoon. Water Resources Department officials
Instagram - Sun, 14 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT
Chennai received a major boost to its drinking water security as its three main reservoirs—Poondi, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam—reached full capacity for the first time in 29 years amid an erratic northeast monsoon. Water Resources Department officials Instagram
News report
Chennai-local
Chennai’s groundwater table drops 0.47m in June as rains fail to arrive
The Times of India - Tue, 07 Jul 2026 07:00:00 GMT
Chennai’s groundwater table drops 0.47m in June as rains fail to arrive The Times of India
News report
Chennai-local
Chennai Groundwater Crisis Deepens in Expanding Suburbs
Urban Acres - Sun, 04 Oct 2026 06:26:50 GMT
Chennai Groundwater Crisis Deepens in Expanding Suburbs Urban Acres
News report
Chennai-local
Chennai Metro Water to hold grievance meeting on October 10 in all zones
DT Next - Fri, 09 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT
Chennai Metro Water to hold grievance meeting on October 10 in all zones DT Next
Search another city or district
Verify the evidence
Open the records below for source links, dates, geography, row or page citations, caveats, and file checksums.
Source records and provenance
Source-link fallback: if an original source link fails, use the citation details, source name, publication date, retrieval date, and row/page context shown here.
NITI ICED groundwater-depth band dataset
- Institution
- NITI Aayog
- Publication/dataset
- NITI ICED groundwater-depth band dataset
- Source URL
- https://iced.niti.gov.in/
- Publication date
- 2026-06-25
- Reporting period
- 2023-24
- Retrieval date
- 2026-06-29
- Geography
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Citation
- Sheet Water Levels; row 3931; original label "2 to 5 Pre Monsoon (in mbgl)".
- Checksum
- 96c50d6393c551e69574be1d75bd316c085c5906529c0cfa7e5c24bee5117772
- Limitation
- Government dashboard dataset. Values are published as ranges/classifications and may be compiled or derived. JalWater preserves them as published.
NITI ICED groundwater-depth band dataset
- Institution
- NITI Aayog
- Publication/dataset
- NITI ICED groundwater-depth band dataset
- Source URL
- https://iced.niti.gov.in/
- Publication date
- 2026-06-25
- Reporting period
- 2023-24
- Retrieval date
- 2026-06-29
- Geography
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Citation
- Sheet Water Levels; row 3967; original label "2 to 5 Post Monsoon (in mbgl)".
- Checksum
- 96c50d6393c551e69574be1d75bd316c085c5906529c0cfa7e5c24bee5117772
- Limitation
- Government dashboard dataset. Values are published as ranges/classifications and may be compiled or derived. JalWater preserves them as published.
NITI ICED per-capita water-availability classification dataset
- Institution
- NITI Aayog
- Publication/dataset
- NITI ICED per-capita water-availability classification dataset
- Source URL
- https://iced.niti.gov.in/
- Publication date
- 2026-06-25
- Reporting period
- 2025
- Retrieval date
- 2026-06-29
- Geography
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Citation
- Sheet Water Availability; row 427; original label "Absolute scarcity [<500 m3]".
- Checksum
- 78dd6fd51da85ff056c177855dc6690be0b25ac54044484518d74e39ffa1ca1c
- Limitation
- Government dashboard dataset. Values are published as ranges/classifications and may be compiled or derived. JalWater preserves them as published.
NITI ICED per-capita water-availability classification dataset
- Institution
- NITI Aayog
- Publication/dataset
- NITI ICED per-capita water-availability classification dataset
- Source URL
- https://iced.niti.gov.in/
- Publication date
- 2026-06-25
- Reporting period
- 2050
- Retrieval date
- 2026-06-29
- Geography
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Citation
- Sheet Water Availability; row 427; original label "Absolute scarcity [<500 m3]".
- Checksum
- 78dd6fd51da85ff056c177855dc6690be0b25ac54044484518d74e39ffa1ca1c
- Limitation
- Government dashboard dataset. Values are published as ranges/classifications and may be compiled or derived. JalWater preserves them as published.