In October 2017, The Times of India reported that the Nemmeli desalination plant in southern Chennai would be shut down for two days of maintenance. Output from the facility, rated at 100 million litres per day (100,000 m³/day), was scheduled to stop from 6 a.m. on 12 October until the evening of the following day. Districts expected to be affected included Adyar, Velachery, Besant Nagar, Sholinganallur, Thiruvanmiyur and Mylapore. Chennai MetroWater urged residents to build up reserves and offered tankers for emergencies.
The report showed how heavily parts of Chennai depended on a single desalination plant in 2017: a planned 36-hour stoppage was enough to interrupt supply across numerous districts.
Source: The Times of India