As the monsoons finally covered more parts of Maharashtra last week, government data from a related metric shows just how grim the water situation is in parts of the state compared to last year.
According to the Water and Sanitation Support Organisation, government of Maharashtra, the number of water tankers ordered from May till the third week of June has kept rising and stood at 42,680, against 10,801 during the corresponding period of 2018—an increase of about four times (See chart).
This data covers 34 of 36 districts in Maharashtra (data for Mumbai and Mumbai Suburban was not available), and includes both government and private tankers. In 16 of these 34 districts, the number of water tankers ordered during this period was more than double its corresponding number in May 2018. Six of these 16 districts are in the sub-region of Marathwada, four in Khandesh, and three apiece in Paschim Maharashtra and Vidarbha.
The three districts that registered the highest increase in water tankers are Sangli (76 times) in Paschim Maharashtra, and Beed (74 times) and Latur (49 times) in Marathwada. Back in 2016, the Central government had sent a train filled with water to Latur, and this train had originated from Sangli.
{{/usCountry}}The three districts that registered the highest increase in water tankers are Sangli (76 times) in Paschim Maharashtra, and Beed (74 times) and Latur (49 times) in Marathwada. Back in 2016, the Central government had sent a train filled with water to Latur, and this train had originated from Sangli.
{{/usCountry}}Major cities in Maharashtra too have been facing a dry spell. Pune has seen an increase of 13 times in demand for water tankers during this period for 2019 and Nashik five times.
Earlier this month, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that the four regions in water distress will receive adequate rainfall this year, but will have to wait longer, as rains there are expected to pick up only in July.
Of the 42,680 tankers that ferried water during this seven-week period, only 1,496 (3.5%) were from the government. The remaining 41,184 tankers (96.5%) were from private entities. This data only represents the official numbers recorded by the government. Given the acute shortage of water, and the strongholds of unregistered water-tanker operators operating in the drought-prone regions, the demand for water is probably more severe.