Faced with both floods and droughts, communities in southern India's largest state are reviving bodies of water without depending on the government. As the elected government of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu has struggled in the face of devastating floods and crippling droughts, ordinary citizens, from nondescript villages to pockets of the city of Chennai, have taken it upon themselves to revive dead or dying neighborhood lakes and wells. And they are finding success that’s turning this citizen activism into a model with relevance across societies grappling with water crises. |