The usual dusty small-town India greets us as a small group of people associated with the NGO Caring Friends travel over two-and-a-half days through Aurangabad and Jalna to understand the problems in the region and what help could be given. On the face of it, people seem to be going about their normal life. Where are the signs of distress that we had read in the media? Don't girls and women in many parts of rural India carry water over long distances? Aren't water tankers a common sight in many towns and cities, including Mumbai?
The feeling that all is normal is broken the moment we see the dried up, shrivelled fields of sweet lime (mausambi) and cotton planted on thousands of acres along the way. When we stop to speak to people, the consensus is that this year's drought is worse than the one in 1972. But there is one major difference: There is no shortage of food this time around. Although we hear stories of cattle perishing and migration out of villages in search of work, fodder prices have remained remarkably stable.
However, the price of one commodity has moved up: Water, usually considered to be available freely like air. One tanker of water (8,000 litres) now costs Rs 1,200-1,500, up from Rs 300-500 last year. Increasingly the tankers have to fetch water from places further away. We hear numerous stories about how ground water is depleting fast: In Sangli, some 20,000 bore wells were dug
11:08 PM, May 06, 2013
Aurangabad: The 17-year-old son of a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, who was allegedly behind the wheel when his SUV killed a two-year-old child in in Aurangabad, has been granted bail. The teen was allegedly driving the car killing the two-year-old was killed, injuring another five-year-old, her father and uncle. The ownership of the car is now being questioned. Reports said that it is owned by Abdul Qadeer Maulana's elder...
01:45 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Aurangabad: An out-of-control SUV in Aurangabad killed a 2-year-old child, injuring another 5-yr-old, her father and uncle on Tuesday morning. Moments later, the driver knocked down a biker, before slamming into a shop. The 17-year-old son of a local Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Abdul Qadeer Maulana was allegedly behind the wheel, learning how to drive in the busy city centre. "The incident happened around 8:15 am. We have arrested...
09:09 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Aurangabad: Hours after senior NCP leader Abdul Qadeer Maulana's 17-year-old son was arrested on Wednesday after the SUV car he was driving hit two minor girls and their uncle, killing the youngest girl on the spot, Aurangabad Police Commissioner said the ownership of the SUV is in dispute. "The vehicle has been registered in the name of a person from Jalna and HDFC loan account says the vehicle has been...
08:31 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Aurangabad: Senior NCP leader Abdul Qadeer Maulana's 17-year-old son was arrested on Wednesday after the SUV car he was driving hit two minor girls and their uncle, killing the youngest girl on the spot. Three others, including a five-year-old girl have been seriously injured. "The incident happened at around 8.15 am. We have arrested the driver of the vehicle and registered a case. The vehicle cruised two kids, one of...
04:55 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Aurangabad: Reckless driving by an NCP leader's teenage son in Aurangabad has left a two-year-old dead. Three others, including a five-year-old girl have been seriously injured after the 17-year-old lost control of his SUV. The children were walking with their uncle when the teenager hit the trio before ramming into another vehicle and a shop. The CCTV footage showed that it was senior NCP leader Qadeer Maulana's teenage son at...
01:18 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Mumbai: Even as Maharashtra faces one of its worst droughts in four decades and people are forced to drink dirty water, thousands of litres of water was wasted during Maharashtra Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam 's visit to Marathwada region on Tuesday. Kadam visited Aurangabad on Tuesday to meet BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who is sitting on a fast against Maharashtra government's policy to tackle drought, and convince him to end...
03:38 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Authorities on Tuesday told the special MCOCA court that they are contemplating shifting the suspected LeT operative and key plotter of 26/11 terror strikes Abu Jundal from Arthur Road jail to a facility at Taloja in Navi Mumbai. ...
09:03 PM, Apr 02, 2013
Suspected LeT operative and key plotter of 26/11 terror strikes Abu Jundal has threatened to go on hunger strike if not taken out of solitary confinement. He said this in a letter submitted today by authorities of Arthur Road jail, where he has been lodged, to the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCOA) court which is trying him in connection with the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. ...
10:04 PM, Apr 01, 2013
A hardcore Maoist was arrested on Wednesday from a village in Bihar's Aurangabad district, police said. ...
10:17 PM, Mar 13, 2013
The drought situation in Maharashtra has worsened with more villages being supplied water through tankers, an official said on Monday. The number of villages and hamlets depending on water tankers for survival went up to 7,075 from 6,488 last Monday. ...
05:05 AM, Mar 12, 2013
Drought-stricken and desperate, Gadana village in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, is a sea of wells. It's a tragic contradiction since most of them are dry. Government rules specify only one well for drinking water at every 500 metres. The Gadana village has 18 wells - eight in a 60 metre area, and yet, they have no water. ...
08:56 AM, Mar 11, 2013
Perturbed by the looming water crises in several parts of the state, Maharashtra Police has directed its personnel to remain prepared and handle possible water riots with "sensitivity", the state police chief said on Thursday. ...
02:31 AM, Mar 08, 2013
A South Korean national has alleged that she was raped by a hotel manager in Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. An FIR has been registered in Aurangabad. ...
09:08 AM, Feb 01, 2013
A 22-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by eight men in Baijipura locality Aurangabad in the wee hours today, police said. According to police, the gang forcibly took the victim with them when she was home late on Thursday night. She was taken to a nearby secluded place and raped. ...
03:21 AM, Jan 26, 2013
Twenty-five people, including 11 children, were killed and 10 others injured when a speeding truck overturned and fell into a roadside ditch near Titai Bigha in Aurangabad district in the wee hours on Thursday. Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Praveen Kumar Parai said from the accident spot that the injured had told him the truck driver was drunk and that he along with his assistant fled from the spot. ...
02:16 PM, Jan 10, 2013
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on January 10 ordered an inquiry into the Aurangabad road accident which claimed 25 lives. Condoling the loss of lives, Kumar ordered the district magistrate and superintendent of police to inquire under what circumstances people were being carried in a truck meant for freight, an official statement said here. ...
01:18 PM, Jan 10, 2013
A woman constable, who allegedly hurled a shoe at a senior police officer, who had allegedly sent her lewd messages on her cellphone, has been suspended, officials said. The woman constable threw the shoe at Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Naresh Meghrajani on Thursday night while alleging that he had sent her lewd messages on her cellphone. ...
02:52 PM, Jan 04, 2013
Saryug Singh, father of Delhi gangrape accused Akshay Thakur, has locked himself in his house along with his wife while security men deputed outside are saying they can hear frequent wails from inside since the the Delhi braveheart lost her battle for life. Thakur, one of the six accused, was arrested by a joint team of Delhi and Bihar police from his house in Lahankarma. ...
11:30 PM, Dec 30, 2012
New Delhi: The police on Friday arrested the sixth accused in connection with the gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus in the national capital. The sixth accused was arrested by the police from Aurangabad in Bihar. The Delhi Police had been conducting raids in Haryana and Bihar to trace the arrested accused, who had been absconding since the incident took place. This comes hours after the...
07:51 PM, Dec 21, 2012
