Railway Ministry is working on a plan to utilise its unused wagons to transport water from Ujani dam near Pandharpur to scarcity-hit latur city and district, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said on Monday.
The operation is cost intensive and the Railway officials are expected to call the state government officials within a week to work out the modalities, he said.
“Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu and his officials officials are working out modalities to allocate unused railway wagons to transport water from Ujjani dam near Pandharpur to water scarcity hit latur city and district. The state government has urged the Railways to either reduce the transportation cost or transport it for free as a humanitarian cause,” Khadse said.
On the imposition of prohibitory orders in latur, Khadse clarified that the orders have been issued only at locations where filling of water tankers is going on.
“People were gate crashing in, causing destruction to pipes and forcibly taking away water. Therefore, prohibitory orders have been imposed at these filling sites and not across the city,” he said.
Replying to queries, Khadse said extra water has been stored in Ujani dam that is meant for usage during the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage to Pandharpur.