A ‘water-train’ carrying five lakh litres of water arrived the drought hit Lattur district in Marathwada earlier this morning. The train ferrying water reportedly arrived several hours behind schedule, however with far less water than originally planned.
Latur, nearly 500 kilometers from the state capital of Mumbai, has been drought hit severely this year. Seven out of the 11 major dams in Marathwada region have completely dried up.
The train had 10 wagons, each carrying 50,000 ltrs of water. The wagons were specifically designed to hold and transport water. Water was brought from Miraj in western Maharashtra that is nearly 350 kms away from Lattur. While normal train journey would take just 6 hours, water train took 18 hours to traverse the distance.
“This was a trial run. Speed is not a consideration,” NDTV quoted Lattur Collector Pandurang Pole.
At Latur station, the wagons were connected to plastic pipes which routed the water into a massive cement pipe freshly laid along the tracks. From there, the water flowed into a massive well, owned by a local farmer.
Water tanker trucks have already started ferrying water to people in drought hit areas.
Railway authorities are planning to bring water in a much bigger tanker train to Lattur in the next round which is scheduled to commence on April 15.
