Maharashtra: 69 Towns in 8 Districts of Marathawada Continue To Struggle For Fresh Water Supply

It is to be noted that the 76 urban centres mentioned in the report have either a municipal council or a nagar panchayat.

Mumbai: Water scarcity in Maharashtra has been a major issue, which gets elevated in summers every year. The arid central part of the state is witnessing an intense shortage of fresh water supply this year as well. People in central Maharashtra have to wait another 15 days for fresh water supply, said the Aurangabad divisional commissioner’s office on Thursday. As many as 69 urban centres have not been receiving fresh water supply on a regular basis, reported news agency PTI.

Out of 76 urban centres in eight districts of Maharashtra’s Marathawada region, only seven receive water supply daily. However, some of them get water only after a long gap. The highest gap of 15 days is in Badnapur town of Jalna district, according to the report. There are only seven small towns in the region where daily water supply is received. Six of them are in Nanded district – Kundalwadi, Kinwat, Dharmabad, Biloli, Ardhapur and Himayatnagar. The seventh town is Paithan in Aurangabad district, which is located on the banks of the Godavari river, it said.

Latur district, which received water through rail wagons in 2016, has no town which gets water everyday. In Latur district, Nilanga gets water supply on alternate days. The gap between two water supplies in other eight towns of Latur district varies from three to 10 days, the report said.

Badnapur town in Jalna district is facing the worst crisis as it receives water supply once in 15 days, followed by Ausa (in Latur), which gets supply after a gap of 11 days, and Devni (Latur), which gets water after an interval of 10 days, the report said.

Earlier this week, the BJP organised a ‘Jalakrosh’ morcha in Aurangabad where residents get water once a week. Senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis and two Union ministers took part in the agitation, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)