EVEN as a 10-wagon train on a trial run started its 342-km journey from Miraj in Sangli district to Latur on Monday, the Latur district administration scotched reports that it has run out of water, stating that it had not sent any SOS to the state to send water from other districts. Latur, it is widely believed elsewhere in Maharashtra, is in the middle of its “worst” water crisis in decades.
“We have enough water —nearly 5 mcm (million cubic metres) — in four of our barrages. This (stock) will last till the monsoon arrives…(in) July,” District Collector Pandurang Pole told The Indian Express on Monday.
You’ve Read Your Free Stories For Now
Sign up and keep reading more stories that matter to you.
Pole said the district was staring at a similar situation six months ago, when Manjra dam had 5.3 mcm water. That, he pointed out, took care of drinking water needs of 10 lakh people. “For nearly six months, 5.3 mcm water took care of 10 lakh people. Why would 5 mcm water not be sufficient for the next three?” he asked. The rest of the district’s population — about 4 lakh — will get supply from “other sources”, he said.
[related-post]
The move to get water through train, it appears, was mooted by BJP leader Makrand Desphande. “At a party meeting in Nashik, I had suggested to CM Devendra Fadnavis that since Sangli district has enough water, it could be supplied (to Latur) through train. Two days later, the CM deputed (Revenue and Agriculture minister) Eknath Khadse, who made the announcement about supplying water by train,” Desphande said.
Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said there was a plan to provide water through a train to Osmanabad district during his tenure. “Since the need did not arise, the plan was dropped,” Chavan said.
Sources in Central Railways said the work on laying a six-inch pipeline up to Miraj railway station is under way. “It will take three or four days to be completed. The 50 wagon train could be run after that,” an official said.
While Chavan said he is not aware of any previous instance of water being carried in train, Shiv Sena MP and veteran politician Chandrakant Khaire said Marathwada region has till date “survived on tanker water” and this is the first time that water will reach there by train.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
