BLOG
April 13th, 2016
Via the Wall Street Journal, a look at India’s efforts to help its western municipalities cope with the shortage of water:
India is deploying trains loaded with tanks of water as it tries to alleviate drought in parched western areas of the country.
State-run Indian Railways is running the trains–each carrying more than half a million liters of water–to the Latur region in western Maharashtra from the city of Miraj, 343 kilometers away, a railway official says.
The state is experiencing its second drought in as many years with at least two months to go until the monsoon is due to arrive. Reservoirs are running dry and the local administration in Latur is rationing water.
On Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department predicted an “above normal” monsoon for the country this year.
The first “water train”—with 10 tank cars each holding 54,000 liters of water–reached Latur earlier this week.
Local media followed the progress of the trains as they made their way across the state.
The official said the railways will continue to run the trains until the water shortage eases in Latur.
The tank cars in the trains are usually used to transport liquid petroleum products such as crude oil, so they were steam-cleaned before being filled with water at Miraj’s railway station.
The official said the railways can deploy up to 50 cars each day and the state government is building pipelines to carry water to Miraj station to fill them.
Pandurang Pole, the district collector of Latur, said by phone that the situation is “difficult” as the region has received its second straight year of scant rainfall.
He said however that even before the trains arrived, there was “sufficient” drinking water for people in Latur and the government requested the urgent transportation of water “as it wanted to ensure all steps are taken to address any difficulty for the local population”.