Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a sign of the worsening water situation in Marathwada, the number of tankers supplying water to villages in three districts in the region has gone up by 101 in just 100 days, an official said on Friday.
The number of tanker-dependent villages has also increased, he said.
The Marathwada region, which sees erratic rainfall, comprises eight districts - Beed, Hingoli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani.
In October last year, 87 tankers were deployed by the government to supply water to 86 villages in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna and Beed districts. But now the authorities are deploying 188 such tankers in the three districts, said the official citing a report from the divisional commissioner's office.
According to the report, the number of villages that were dependent on tankers for water supply was 86 on October 9, 2023. But the number of tanker-dependent villages has gone up to 193 by January 16, 2024.
The highest number of tanker-dependent villages is in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, where 111 water tankers are engaged to quench the thirst of 101 villages.
In Jalna, 76 tankers are supplying water to 75 human settlements, while in Beed, one village and three small settlements are depending on one tanker, the report says.
Earlier, officials had said that 61 out of 76 talukas of Marathwada had faced rain deficit between June and September 2023, including 19 talukas with a deficit of 30 to 50 per cent.
