Only 2 per cent water remains in Marathwada dams, 15 pc in Maharashtra

Mumbai: In more bad news for the drought-hit Marathwada, only two per cent water is left in dams in the parched region, while 15 per cent is left in the state, a meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet was informed here on Tuesday.

This is a sharp fall from the 10 per cent water stock available in the Marathwada dams and 25 per cent in the entire Maharashtra at this time last year. Water is being supplied to 10,500 villages and hamlets through 5,159 water tankers, an official said. Altogether 397 cattle fodder camps are now operational in Beed, Latur, Osmanabad and Ahmednagar districts, the official said.

This is the fourth year of drought in Marathwada in the past five years. Each of its 8,522 villages have been affected for two consecutive years. Latur in Marathwada has been getting water by a special "water train" filled at Miraj in western Maharashtra.