Devendra Fadnavis reviews Marathwada water situation

Mumbai, Aug 23: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday chaired Aurangabad division review meeting to discuss the water scarcity situation in Marathwada region.

"I chaired a drought mitigation meeting at Aurangabad where we discussed all measures that can be taken to provide respite to people. We are trying to ensure that water supply to residents and fodder supply for livestock reaches the region," Fadnavis said.

According to latest official figures, only eight per cent of water is left in reservoirs of Marathwada, one of the worst drought-hit regions of Maharashtra.

He said planning was done to supply cattle fodder through "hydroponic technique" and water to Latur city through railway wagons. "We have also planned to discharge water from upper dams so that the dams in the lower region receive adequate amount of water," he said.

Fadnavis further said that he has instructed officials to hold gramsabhas in every village of Marathwada region to apprise people of the 27 measures taken by the government to deal with water crisis in parched conditions.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will be taken up on a large scale now and water conservation work in farm ponds and wells will be relentlessly done, he said.

According to an official from the Chief Minister's Office, Maharashtra, since June, has received around 500 mm or 59.3 per cent rains against the normal of 831.4 mm.

Currently, there is a total of 18,018 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water in the state's 2,229 reservoirs, which is 48 per cent of the total usable capacity. In 2013, it was 76 per cent, while last year it was 61 per cent.

State ministers Eknath Khadse, Pankaja Munde, Diwaker Raote, Dr Deepak Sawant, Baban Rao Lonikar, Dilip Kamle and other ministers were also present at the meeting.

PTI