Bringing more relief to the residents of parched town in Marathwada, a 50-wagon train carrying 25 lakh litres of water reached latur on Wednesday morning, taking the total volume of water transported to the town since April 11 to 70 lakh litre.
Wednesday’s was the first occasion when a 50-wagon train, christened “Jaldoot”, transported as much as 25 lakh litre of water at one go from the western Maharashtra town of Miraj to latur town in drought-hit Marathwada region.
Ten-wagon trains have made as many as nine trips from Miraj to latur, involving a distance of 342 km, since April 11, carrying a total of 45 lakh litre of water.
The “Jaldoot”, which had left Miraj at 11 am on Tuesday, reached latur in the early hours of Wednesday. Scores of people, including latur city Mayor Akhtar Mistry, Municipal Commissioner Sudhakar Telang, local politicians and activists, turned out at the latur railway station, to welcome the ‘water train’.
“Jaldoot with around 25 lakh litre drinking water in 50 wagons reaches #drought affected latur. Admin working hard. 9 trips of 10 wagons with 5lakh lit water(=45 lakh lit) + 1 trip of 50 wagons with 25 lakh lit water = 70 lakh lit water being sent to #latur,” Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted.
In a separate tweet, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu stated: “First full 50 tank wagons carrying about 25 lakh ltrs of water reached #latur at 7.55 hrs. Shall continue this operation as mission”.
like in the past, the Krishna river water brought to latur by train from Miraj was taken to a nearby well of the capacity of 25 lakh litres. From the well, water was taken to the nearby filtration plant. After filtration, the district authorities have made arrangements to distribute the potable water among the residents of parched latur, which accounts for a population of 5 lakh, and nearby areas.
Apart from catering to the needs of nearly five lakh people residing in latur, the authorities are also making available the transported water to people in the nearby areas of latur town. The authorities’ decision to utilise water brought in to latur from Miraj is line with the directive given by the Bombay High Court on April 12 to take steps to ensure that water was not just distributed among the people of parched town in Marathwada, but was also distributed among the people in nearby villages.