Drought-prone Marathwada to have water grid with Israeli help

Drought-prone Marathwada region  in  Maharashtra will soon have a water grid for better management of water resources from its dams.

The Maharashtra government signed a MoU with Mekorot Development & Enterprise Ltd, the government-owned company of Israel, to design the grid.

Israel records very low rainfall but effectively manages water resources.

"We are also signing MoU for a huge water grid in Marathwada. We want to collaborate more with Israel for the welfare of our farmers," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the Indo-Israel Business Summit, which was presided over by visting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday.

The eight districts in Marathwada region - Aurangabad, Latur, Beed, Jalna, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani and Osmanabad - also face acute water shortage and drought-like conditions.

The MoU was cleared in Wednesday's Cabinet meeting presided over by Fadnavis.

According to reports, the project is estimated to cost nearly Rs 10,000 crore and aims to interlink major dams in Marathwada region for cost-effective use of available water, especially during droughts.

It may be recalled in 2016, Jaldoot, a water wagon train, had to carry out over 100  trips from April 11 to August 9 from Sangli district to supply water to the Latur city.

In 2015, the Marathwada region, particularly the three districts of Beed, Osmanabad and Latur faced the worst drought in a century.