Parched Marathwada to get respite from water grid agreement

The visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will provide a fillip to the water grid project aimed to provide water for the drought-affected region of Marathwada in Maharashtra. 

The state government will be inking an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Mekorot, the government-owned company of Israel, to design the grid. Israel records very low rainfall and still manages to use water with utmost efficiency. 

Additional Chief Secretary for sanitation and water supply, S L Goyal, informed DNA that the grid design will give priority to the drinking water problem of Marathwada. Water required for agricultural and industrial purposes will also be looked after under the grid. He informed that the help of Israel expertise would be taken for recycling of waste water, as well as overall water management. 

Marathwada is drought prone region in the state. Conditions were so bad in the city of Latur last year that state government had to run a water train to supply water. Other districts like Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani and Osmanabad  also face acute water shortage. The region is increasingly witnessing farmer suicides due to farm distress which was earlier a trend observed only in the Vidarbha region.

Marathwada region has a need for 17.92 TMC water to satisfy it’s drinking water needs but the region receives only an average rainfall of 700 mm. The MoU would pave way for harnessing Israeli expertise in the field of water management, water recycling and conservation, increasing storage capacity of dams and bringing water from other river basins to Marathwada.