Parts of Maha still parched, fight for water on

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, August 9

While Maharashtra on the whole has received nearly 800 mm of rainfall since June 1 as against 600 mm in normal times, parts of drought-hit Maharashtra are still dependent on tankers for drinking water, according to information received from state government officials.

“Most of Marathwada other than Aurangabad has remained dry. Beed, Osmanabad, Jalna, Nanded, Parbhani and Latur districts have received less rainfall than usual,” a state government official said.

While Aurangabad has received 261 mm of rain as against the expected 406 mm, Beed with 157 mm, Jalna with 257 mm, Parbhani at 270 mm have received much less rain than expected.

According to information available from the state irrigation department, dams in Marathwada hold just about 15 per cent of their total capacity. “Only the Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad is nearing the overflow mark as it is receiving water from the Godavari and other rivers which are in spate,” an irrigation department official said.

With drinking water in short supply in Marathwada districts, the state government is still supplying water by tankers to several areas. Official data indicate that the number of tankers have come down from 1,800 in peak summer to 431 earlier this week.

The Devendra Fadnavis government has consequently decided not to shut down fodder camps in Beed and Osmanabad district which continue to face the brunt of rainfall shortage. While Beed has 44 fodder camps, 37 such camps are operational in Osmanabad. In all, more than 46,000 cattle are housed in these fodder camps, according to officials from these two districts.

The Maharashtra Government had approved 1,153 camps in the entire Marathwada region this summer. However, not all of them became operational, according to reports.