The Maharashtra Government has chalked out a Rs 2,200-crore plan to provide drinking water. Under the plan, water would be made available from the 105 irrigation schemes that are active in the State. Drinking water would also be made available using tankers and temporary pipelines. Ground water sources would also be tapped to enhance the drinking water proportion. Currently, in the 100 dams and reservoirs spread across the State, 12,993 million cubic metres (mcm) of water is remaining , which is just 47 per cent of the total installed capacity of 27,821 mcm .
Earlier in the week, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, at a public meeting in Sangli, had said that providing drinking water to the affected areas was the top priority for the State Government. It is even willing to make changes in the policy and set aside development works to fight drought. The Government will ensure that adequate funds are provided for drinking water and for cattle fodder, he said.
Big Challenge
The Maharashtra Government would be soon approaching the Centre for funds. However, if the Centre is unwilling to support the State, then the money would be raised from the State Government coffers.
States such as Punjab have 98 per cent of the area under irrigation; Uttar Pradesh has 68 per cent, while Maharashtra has only 18 per cent. Therefore providing water across the State is a big challenge, Chavan said. Drinking water would be drawn only from certain sections of the 105 irrigation schemes, he said.
A senior official of the Relief and Rehabilitation Department said that, of all the regions, it is Marathwada which has been suffering the most. Water availability in thousands of villages is abysmal , but only 325 villages are getting daily water supply from tankers.