Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images A worker collects water at the dried-out Puzhal Reservoir on the outskirts of Chennai, India, on June 20. India's water crisis, in photos

Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images A worker collects water at the dried-out Puzhal Reservoir on the outskirts of Chennai, India, on June 20.

Millions of people are running out of usable water in the southern Indian city of Chennai, which is experiencing major droughts and a rapidly worsening water crisis.

Four reservoirs that supply Chennai, the state capital and India's sixth largest city, have nearly run dry.

The situation in Chennai reflects an ongoing nationwide crisis as a fatal heat wave sweeps across the country and cities face dwindling water supplies. People have begun fighting over water, with minor clashes across Chennai.

Droughts across India are an annually reoccurring event, and smaller towns have run out of water before. But Chennai is one of the first major cities to face such severe water shortages, exacerbated by a combination of the heat wave, climate change and poor planning.