A train with 50 tankers pulls in late at night, raising a cheer over 300 km away in Latur

[Bornubus]

With Marathwada reeling under drought-like conditions, a train with 50 tankers pulled into Miraj in Sangli district late Saturday night. On Sunday, water was being filled in the tankers for the onward journey to Latur, a district which has been staring at its “worst ever” water crisis in decades.

Railway sources said the tanker wagons arrived from Kota where they had been sent for steam-washing to make them suitable for clean water. A second train is expected by April 15.


SHARE THIS ARTICLE

RELATED ARTICLE

• Latur: Woman dies standing in queue for water, mother dies of shock
• Maharashtra to raise loans to tackle drought
• Failed crops, parched fields, now Marathwada faces the great thirst
• In the middle of monsoon season in Marathwada, no water to drink
• Upper dams to release water for drought-hit districts; cabinet meet in Sept in Marathwada
• Maharashtra braces for water crisis

Central Railway officials said water was being lifted from a jackwell in Miraj and pumped to a railway filtration plant. “From there, water is being being pumped into the wagons through an old pipeline system,” an official said.

Latur District Collector Pandurang Pole told The Indian Express Sunday that a new water pipeline is being laid by the state government from the railway filtration plant to Miraj railway station, three kilometres away.

Each wagon has a capacity of storing 54,000 litre of water but the railways plans to fill 50,000 litre in each. Pole said one trip of the train will help them get water which 450 road tankers supply. “Currently, over 400 tankers are making rounds of Latur city daily and over 200 water tankers are deployed in rural areas,” he said. “The water train will help us a lot. We have some water reserves that should last till the monsoon arrives,” he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The state government along with the Railway Ministry is coordinating to ensure that water to Latur is provided immediately.” Thanking Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, he said, “The rail wagons have reached Miraj where drinking water is being filled. Almost 50 tanker wagons will proceed with water to Latur.” Prabhu, on his part, said: “The railways will do everything to help … We have sent 50 tanker wagons.”

In Latur, Dr Kalyan Barmade, secretary of Indian Medical Association, said, “The announcement of the train bringing water has come as a huge relief for Latur… people do nothing except look for water.”

 

[Bornubus]

In North we have Perennial Rivers with abundant waters and Low population.Its unfortunate River Linking is a Pipe Dream

Ever flowing and mighty Rivers In Himachal

Water crisis in Maharashtra Latur

 

[Bornubus]

Bhaghirithi River - Uttarakhand

 

[AnantS]

@Bornubus Northern Regions are soon going to face the same drought conditions if the check is not done on time

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html

 

[Bornubus]

@Bornubus Northern Regions are soon going to face the same drought conditions if the check is not done on time

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html

Govt should link rivers,a large volume of water gets wasted in monsoon and floods and most importantly divert Rivers from Kashmir.

Aslo,we should preserve water on personal level,Watching Maharashtra crisis i've decided not to waste this precious resource like i use to be in the past.

 

[AnantS]

Govt should link rivers,a large volume of water gets wasted in monsoon and floods and most importantly divert Rivers from Kashmir.

Aslo,we should preserve water on personal level,Watching Maharashtra crisis i've decided not to waste this precious resource like i use to be in the past.

Indian Govt should educate people about water conservation and help water reservoirs. The old system of having village ponds called "Tobba" and regularly cleaning and maintaining them has vanished. Too much reliance on tubewells to irrigate(less) and waste(more) has lead to low ground water level.

In Himachal one cringes at the garbage in the himalyan rivers that is thrown in so called touristy places. E.g Chamunda DEvi Ji temple, we remember as kids was located at such a beatiful and serene place, with hardly any tourists and very few commercial shops. The only way of staying at night was Temple in premises Dharamshala. And the river besides temple was pristine, flowing with full force. The recent tourists inflow have improved local economy but cant say about ecology ....

 

[Screambowl]

BC isko kehte hai ... nikamme logo ka hujoom. They are useless!!!

why cant they simply put a plant to desalinate the sea water?

 

[indiatester]

BC isko kehte hai ... nikamme logo ka hujoom. They are useless!!!

why cant they simply put a plant to desalinate the sea water?

"Desalinated water typically costs about $2,000 an acre foot -- roughly the amount of water a family of five uses in a year. The cost is about double that of water obtained from building a new reservoir or recycling wastewater, according to a 2013 study in US"

Doubt:
How much money has been spent by irrigation and water departments in Marathwada since independence?

Never mind. Just googled and found about the irrigation scam. 5.4 billions $'s. I have to say, the people got what they voted for.

 

[garg_bharat]

There is widespread damage to rainwater channels and too much ground water has been drawn already.

The water crisis is everywhere as the natural resources simply cannot support the population.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

This reminds me the days of My town. Nobody was ready to marry their daughter to our town because of water crisis. Animals used to die of Hunger and water. Rich persons of my town spent a lots of money to keep animals alive. At anytime tanker will come and people would rush to the tanker to take water. Laddies will fight for water. BJP government came in. They laid down huge pipelines of water. Situation improved. Now Narmada cannal has come in. There is absolutely no scarcity of water. They gives water twice in a week but for 7 o 8 hours with full pressure. Water will reach to your second floor without pumping.

My farmer friend told me that now there will be almost 60% rise in crops. My town has become very rich. People are very happy.

All credit goes Keshu bhai and NAMO Government.

In a town Morbi, there was a huge crises water. Water was just enough to last for one and half month. Government Issues contract to laydown a pipe line of 45 KM to My group company with a time line of 45 days. This 45 KM pipe line was laid down 2 days before the scheduled date. Town people were very happy. Now there is no crisis.

In my previous company also, a pipe line providing water was build at a rapid pace. 45 villages were provided Mahi water.

In dry areas of kutch, water has reached by pipe lines and Narmada canals. Many dry rivers and ponds are full of water through out the year. Nalsarovar will dry after December and all birds will go back. Now Nalsarovar is full of water through out the year and many species of birds may be seen.

today, If farmers are not committing suicide in Gujarat, it is the timely steps taken by visionary leadership of Gujarat. Work is still going on. RIvers are being linked. The water is dumped in dry rivers of Gujarat.

Dry desert like areas are getting green.

About 3 lakh Small check dams and ponds are build. Gujarat is the only state where the water table is coming up.

 

[Bornubus]

This reminds me the days of My town. Nobody was ready to marry their daughter to our town because of water crisis. Animals used to die of Hunger and water. Rich persons of my town spent a lots of money to keep animals alive. At anytime tanker will come and people would rush to the tanker to take water. Laddies will fight for water. BJP government came in. They laid down huge pipelines of water. Situation improved. Now Narmada cannal has come in. There is absolutely no scarcity of water. They gives water twice in a week but for 7 o 8 hours with full pressure. Water will reach to your second floor without pumping.

My farmer friend told me that now there will be almost 60% rise in crops. My town has become very rich. People are very happy.

All credit goes Keshu bhai and NAMO Government.

In a town Morbi, there was a huge crises water. Water was just enough to last for one and half month. Government Issues contract to laydown a pipe line of 45 KM to My group company with a time line of 45 days. This 45 KM pipe line was laid down 2 days before the scheduled date. Town people were very happy. Now there is no crisis.

In my previous company also, a pipe line providing water was build at a rapid pace. 45 villages were provided Mahi water.

In dry areas of kutch, water has reached by pipe lines and Narmada canals. Many dry rivers and ponds are full of water through out the year. Nalsarovar will dry after December and all birds will go back. Now Nalsarovar is full of water through out the year and many species of birds may be seen.

today, If farmers are not committing suicide in Gujarat, it is the timely steps taken by visionary leadership of Gujarat. Work is still going on. RIvers are being linked. The water is dumped in dry rivers of Gujarat.

Dry desert like areas are getting green.

About 3 lakh Small check dams and ponds are build. Gujarat is the only state where the water table is coming up.

BJP is to be blame here since both state and Centre has BJP govt.Govt should link rivers on war footing.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

I read the news today that Rs 300 crore pomegranates were produced by the dry and desert district of kutch in Gujarat. This is no less than a miracle.

 

[HariPrasad-1]

BJP is to be blame here since both state and Centre has BJP govt.Govt should link rivers on war footing.

Man, this is a huge project requiring lakhs of crore and huge planning and survey. Vajpayee had constituted a team of river linking and it was supposed to be completed by 2016 at a cost of 5 LAKH crore. Suresh prabhu was the head. Congress dismantled the team. BJP now has this in their agenda. They will start the work once they have some money.

I think we must take a loan from Japan at a very low interest rate and start the project.

 

[Bornubus]

Man, this is a huge project requiring lakhs of crore and huge planning and survey. Vajpayee had constituted a team of river linking and it was supposed to be completed by 2016 at a cost of 5 LAKH crore. Suresh prabhu was the head. Congress dismantled the team. BJP now has this in their agenda. They will start the work once they have some money.

I think we must take a loan from Japan at a very low interest rate and start the project.

IMO 5 lakh crore can be arranged since Defence budget alone is 50 billion.

Overflowing Rivers becomes a menace in North both especially for fertile agricultural land.

 

[garg_bharat]

BJP is to be blame here since both state and Centre has BJP govt.Govt should link rivers on war footing.

Situation is different in Maharashtra. As deccan plateau has higher elevation than northern plains, water cannot flow upwards. Only water collection using check dams, proper water channels and ponds/lakes can rectify the situation.

BJP has come to power recently. The job is massive.

I think deforestation also plays a part (as it reduces rainfall).

It will take several years of sustained effort to rectify this situation.

 

[OneGrimPilgrim]

Central Govt. has planned to construct 500,000 ponds in rural areas.

plus, there are some villages in drought-affected areas of our country and esp. in Maharashtra which are role-models of how to fight off drought. their models need to be emulated.

coming to cities, i guess having a rainwater harvesting plant for each upcoming residential project has still not been made mandatory.

 

[Bornubus]

Situation is different in Maharashtra. As deccan plateau has higher elevation than northern plains, water cannot flow upwards. Only water collection using check dams, proper water channels and ponds/lakes can rectify the situation.

BJP has come to power recently. The job is massive.

I think deforestation also plays a part (as it reduces rainfall).

It will take several years of sustained effort to rectify this situation.

No this region (Latur) comes under rain shadow area.I also support ban on IPL in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

 

[ezsasa]

I don't think central govt river interlinking project will happen this term, no money.

Maybe next term, if they BJP stays in power.

However state Govt's are free to do those from their budget like how andhra has done.

 

[alphacentury]

Water will cause a very serious problem in near future, could be deadly for a country like India,if not checked.

People need to be aware as well. This year, my village has been provided with pipe water. The water comes for 2-3 hours. Most people are poor, so nobody has made any tank or anything. Before, people were using wells and tube wells and would use only as required , as it was manually fetched. But now they just waste it and the water just drains for 2-3 hours.

 

[OneGrimPilgrim]

No this region (Latur) comes under rain shadow area.I also support ban on IPL in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

a valid argument i read was, regular tending to these ckt-grounds also takes up water, then whats so special with IPL. even if there's no IPL, the grounds would usually take up water anyway. is it true? i don't watch and follow ckt so dont know very much.