First train with drinking water reaches parched Latur

Days after the Railways deployed two tanker trains from Meerut for transporting drinking water to drought-hit Marathwada region of Maharashtra, 10 wagons carrying five lakh liters of water arrived in Parched Latur.

One of the two goods trains carrying 50 wagons of water that left Kota workshop for Miraj in Pune division on 8 April, and reached Latur early in the morning today with 10 tanker-loads of water.

People in the drought-hit Latur district of Maharashtra are forced to travel long distances for water, due to an unprecedented water scarcity this summer.

According to the villagers, the administration sends limited water tankers to the villages. The villagers either have to buy water or get them from a nearby farm. The women of the village have to travel nearly two kilometers to fetch water. The villagers are thus forced to spend almost the whole day sourcing water.

But, with Latur city alone needing 20 million litres of water each day, the Railways and the state government have big task at hand.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said that the state government and the railway ministry were working hard to bring relief to people in drought-affected region.

Meanwhile, media reports said, the Delhi government is also contemplating sending a 'water-train' to Latur, which is facing an unprecedented water scarcity this summer.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday discussed the drought issue with water minister Kapil Mishra, who said Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was ready to send water to the parched district.

The government will approach Indian Railways to provide it a train to send water to the drought-hit district, he further said.

Before the meeting, Kejriwal also post a tweet appealing to Delhiites to save water for the people in Latur.

"Severe water crisis in Latur. We all should help. Are all Delhiites ready to save some water daily to send it for our people in Latur?," the chief minister tweeted.

Replying to Kejriwal's tweet, Mishra tweeted, "DJB is ready sir. We can save water and send it for our brothers and sisters in Latur."

Kejriwal had also a word of praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his resolve in tackling the water crisis in drought-hit Marathwada region of Maharashtra.