Water train to quench thirst of Pali-Marwar region from April 15

JAIPUR: The state government has allowed water trains to supply drinking water to residents of the parched Pali-Marwar region from April 15. This is for the fourth time after 2005 (2009 and 2019 being the other years) that Pali district will receive water through train wagons.
Every day, the entire region will receive 80-lakh litres of drinking water through 160 wagons in four trips from Bhagat-ki-Kothi in Jodhpur to Pali station.The operation will run from April 15 till the arrival of monsoon. The water will be drawn from multiple sources from Indira Gandhi Canal Project, dams and tubewells.
Drinking water crisis emerged after the Jawai Dam that supplies water to the Pali-Marwar area dried up due to insufficient rain last monsoon. The train ferrying water costs Rs 15 lakh per day. It will be borne by the state disaster and relief fund under the contingency plan.
Pali MLA Gyanchand Parakh said Jawai Dam has water till the end of April or the first week of May. “The initiative has been taken to ensure that during the peak of the summer season in May-June, residents didn’t struggle for drinking water.” This year, 40% less rainfall than the previous year has left almost all the sustainable water resources dried up.
The situation in most of the regions has worsened with PHED providing water after every four days through tankers. Even in urban areas, the supply of water is barely enough to sustain the households. Scuffles at public taps for water have become a daily affair.
“The average requirement is 25 million litres if the supply is done every fourth day,” said an PHED official. The problem is going to exist till the arrival of the monsoon in July.
Water received from the train will be fed into the PHED storage system. “Here the water from Jawai Dam will be mixed and treated before it is supplied through the tap connections,” said the official. TOI called up DM Pali Namit Mehta, but didn’t get his response.