‘Water train’ leaves for drought-hit Latur

A special train carrying around five lakh litres water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, would reach the town on Tuesday morning, a railway official said.

“The first batch of ten wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, were filled with water at Miraj railway station (in Sangli district of Maharashtra),” Chief spokesperson of Central Railway Narendra Patil said.

The train had reached Miraj from Kota in Rajasthan yesterday.

“After the wagons were steam cleaned, they reached Miraj railway station from Kota. Water was filled in the wagons at Miraj railway station and it left for Latur around 11 am today,” he added.

Sangli district officials were also present at Miraj station on the occasion, he said.

“As per the directives of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, two rakes of tank wagons consisting of 50 wagons each were steam cleaned at Kota reached Miraj yesterday to help tackle the water crisis in Marathwada,” the official said, adding that from these 50 wagons a 10-wagon rake was created to carry water to Latur.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said yesterday that Maharashtra government and Railway Ministry were working hard to bring relief to people in the drought-affected region.

Though the railway official declined to reveal the charges that the Railways would be collecting from the state government, he said that the transporter’s priority is to reach out to the people.