Latur living on one-third of its water requirement

LATUR: Even as the eleventh water-bearing train chugged into Latur station on Friday, bringing in 25 lakh litres of water in its 50 wagons, it was clear that the thirst felt by this city cannot be quenched with just this much.

So far, the 11 trains — nine with 10 wagons and two with 50 wagons — have supplied 95 lakh litres of water to the city. That is at least 100 lakh litres less than what Latur, a city of five lakh, needs daily (around 220 to 250 lakh litres).

What it is surviving on is just the bare minimum at 35 lakh litres a day, distributed through public tankers, because the civic body cannot risk using its dated pipeline system — it goes back to the days of the Nizam rule. This would mean losing 50% of the water to leakage. So, for the first time in its history, Latur — not new to water scarcity — will have to do without taps for five months.

CONTINUED ON P12