50-wagon Jaldoot reaches Latur with 25 lakh litres of water

After nine trips by a 10-wagon water train, a 50-wagon train carrying 25 lakh litres of water reached parched Latur on Wednesday.

The train, ‘Jaldoot’, left Miraj in western Maharashtra around 11 pm on Tuesday, for drought-hit Latur city, a distance of around 342 km. 

So far, 70 lakh litres of water has been delivered by train to Latur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The train had previously made nine trips, each time carrying 5 lakh litres of water, to the parched city.

The 50-wagon train received a grand welcome at the Latur Railway Station on its arrival. Latur city mayor Akhtar Mistry, welcomed the ‘Jaldoot Express’, which was specially commissioned from Kota in Rajasthan to transport water to the 5 lakh people of Latur.

The train is a big relief for the residents of Latur, who have been struggling to get drinking water, the mayor said.

‘Jaldoot’ first made its trial run on April 11. The train initially faced several clearance issues due to the single line section from Miraj to Latur. As a result the first train had reached Latur in 17 hours.

However, the Railways then pulled all stops to ensure that the train was given all clearances during the journey. Subsequently, the train took just 8-9 hours to reach Latur. Once it arrived in just six-and-a-half hours. The Solapur division of the Central Railway ensured that ‘Jaldoot’ Express navigated the tracks without any hitch, and the Pune division of the Central Railway took care of the loading of water at Miraj station.