4,559 Maharashtra villages depend on water tankers: Officials

Water stock in irrigation reservoirs across Maharashtra has gone down to 14 per cent and the number of villages being supplied water through tankers has risen, the Maharashtra state cabinet was informed today.
As many as 4,559 villages and 11,333 hamlets in the state are being supplied water by tankers, officials said at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
A fortnight ago, 4,195 villages and 10,570 hamlets were being supplied water by tankers.
A total of 5500 water tankers supply water to drought-hit areas, the meeting was told. Incidentally, last fortnight, this figure was 5,171.
Besides, there are around 9.80 lakh cattle in various cattle camps being held in drought-hit areas, the meeting was informed.

Last year, the number of tankers at this time was 2,111, an official said.
Several villages in central and western Maharashtra face severe water scarcity. The backward region of Marathwada is the worst-affected.
Marathwada region, comprising eight districts including Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Osmanabad, and Hingoli, has 803 major, medium and small sized dams.