Marathwada water grid blueprint being prepared: Maha CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Saturday said his government was preparing a blueprint of the Marathwada Water Grid Project to mitigate drought woes in the region.

Marathwada, comprising eight districts including Aurangabad, has traditionally been a low-rainfall area and the grid project aims to create an integrated piped network to supply water for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes all through the year.

Fadnavis, speaking after visiting a fodder camp in Lasur near here, said the Centre had given Rs 4,700 crore for drought-relief works.

The BJP-led government in the state had spent Rs 1.5 lakh crore on the farm sector in the last four-and-half years, adding that various long-term measures being planned now will ensure future generations in Marathwada will not have to face the problem of drought, he claimed.