621 tankers supply water to 12L people in parched Marathwada

In view of the deficient monsoon this year in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, around 621 tankers have been deployed to provide water to nearly 12 lakh people facing scarcity, officials said on Tuesday.

While several other areas of the state received good monsoon rains, the Marathwada, a perennially drought-prone region, got 25 per cent less downpour this time, as per data provided by the Aurangabad divisional commissioner's office.

"In view of the water shortage, as many as 621 tankers have been deployed in four districts of the region to provide relief to 531 settlements, including villages, hamlets and municipal council areas," the data said.

Over 12 lakh residents of this region were dependent on tankers to meet their daily water needs, it said.

Beed Collector Asteek Kumar Pande said his district was the worst-affected, with over seven lakh people dependent on 413 tankers.

"We received just 62 per cent rainfall this year, and if we don't get enough showers during the retreating monsoon, we might need more tankers to meet people's needs," he said.

Besides, in Osmanabad district, over three lakh people were being provided water through 137 tankers.

In Aurangabad, 34 tankers were being used to supply drinking water to nearly one lakh residents of 47 villages while in Latur, over 90,000 people were receiving water from 37 tankers, according to the official figures.

The average rainfall in Marathwada region is 779 mm.

But this year, it received only 588.15 mm rain, which is 25 per cent less than the average, the data said.