New Delhi: Millions of people in Maharashtra are at serious risk of hunger after two years of low rainfall, coupled with poor management of water resources, have left dams empty, farmland parched and cattle emaciated, aid agencies warned on Thursday.
Maharashtra -- one of the country's biggest producers of sugar, pulses, cotton and soybeans -- is reeling from the worst drought in more than four decades after receiving less than 50 per cent of the average rainfall during the last two monsoon seasons.
As a result, millions of people from mainly farming communities across 15 districts are facing severe shortages of drinking water, and are unable to grow crops and provide fodder for their livestock, aid workers say.
"Drinking water is a serious problem as the normal supply systems such as wells and piped water from the dams (reservoirs) have completely collapsed. People are resorting to tankered drinking water, but it is not enough," said KV Thomas, chief zonal officer for Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), a Church-backed relief organisation....
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06:20 AM, Apr 13, 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
Leader of Opposition Vinod Tawde alleged that water was being diverted to breweries instead of giving it to farmers. ...
05:46 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that drought-migrants from villages will be provided water tankers. Leader of Opposition Vinod Tawde had alleged that water was being diverted to breweries instead of giving it to farmers. ...
04:00 PM, Mar 12, 2013
One person died and 13 were injured in early hours of Monday after a fire broke out in Mumbai's Mankhurd area. The fire started after an explosion in a gas tanker. ...
08:32 AM, Mar 04, 2013
Europe's Airbus wants to sell its C295 military transport aircraft to India, an Airbus Military executive said on February 7, adding that the company was awaiting a request for proposals from the government. "We are very keen to see the RFP so we can get our proposal in there," said Kieran Daly, press manager for Airbus Military, at the Aero India air show in Bangalore. ...
01:32 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Europe's Airbus said on Monday it had beaten Russian competition to be selected as the preferred bidder to supply six A330 aerial refueling tankers to India. ...
12:32 AM, Jan 08, 2013
Chennai: Search operations were intensified on Thursday to trace five missing crew of an oil tanker that ran aground off a city beach hours before the landfall of cyclone "Nilam" that swept through the northern parts of Tamil Nadu. Coast Guard this morning rescued 15 sailors, who were stranded onboard the tanker 'Pratibha Cauvery' that drifted in high velocity winds before it ran aground near the Eliotts Beach in South...
09:12 PM, Nov 01, 2012
Chennai: The IT and ITES sector in Chennai, which remained unaffected by the Bharat Bandh on Thursday, was likely to take a hit in the next few days due to the ongoing strike by private water tankers association, said a highly placed source from the sector. The strike began on Monday night after revenue officials seized five water tankers on charges of operating without valid papers. A P Narayanaswamy, secretary,...
01:51 PM, Sep 21, 2012
Bangalore: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will soon open bids for heavy-lift helicopters and flight fueling tankers and finalise bids for 22 Apache attack choppers, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said on Thursday. "We are going to very shortly open bids for 15 heavy-lift helicopters and six flight fueling tankers. We are also negotiating for the Apache 22 attack choppers, as the bids have already been opened," Browne...
01:10 AM, Sep 21, 2012
Kannur: The Indian Oil Corporation remains non-committal on giving compensation to the victims of the gas tanker lorry disaster even more than two weeks after the tragedy which claimed the lives of 20 persons including women and children at Chala here. The director board of the IOC, which met in Mumbai on Friday, didnt consider the proposal for giving compensation to the victims and their families. The report concerning the...
01:50 PM, Sep 17, 2012
New Delhi: The Nigerian Navy fought off pirates who had hijacked an oil ship off the coast off Lagos. Twenty-three Indian sailors and other crew members have been released safely. The Singapore owned vessel was headed to the US when armed pirates came on board. The ship's crew managed to send out a distress call. The pirates were armed and attacked crew members after boarding the ship. The pirates forced...
09:54 AM, Sep 06, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to dependents of those who died in the gas tanker lorry blast at Chala in Kannur last week. Fixing the responsibility of the IndianOil Corporation (IOC) in the mishap, the state decided to ask the oil firm to provide suitable job to a member each of the affected families. In the absence of an employable...
02:46 PM, Sep 04, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that the state government should come up with a special rehabilitation package for the victims of the Kannur tanker lorry mishap. In a letter to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy,he urged that those who lost their dear ones and those suffering from severe burns should be provided all support from the part of the State Government. It is the worst tanker lorry mishap in...
03:09 PM, Sep 03, 2012
Kannur: With four more persons succumbing to their burns on Saturday, the toll in Monday's LPG tanker explosion here rose to 15, police said. One victim died at a private hospital in neighbouring Kozhikode district, another at Manipal medical college hospital in Karnataka while others at the medical college hospital here, police said. Seven more persons with severe burns were battling for life at different hospitals, they said. Thirty five...
10:02 PM, Sep 01, 2012
Kannur: The toll in the gas tanker lorry tragedy at Chala here on Monday night has risen to seven with two more persons succumbing to their injuries at the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital on Thursday. The dead are Kottaram Meethal Ramlath, 50, and her husband Abdul Razak, 60. Twelve others are battling for their lives at the hospital. Two persons, Sreenilayathil Sreelatha, 48, and Nheroliyil Abdul Azeez, 55, who sustained...
12:53 PM, Aug 31, 2012
Kannur: The devastating gas tanker lorry explosion at Chala bypass road here on Monday night claimed the lives of two persons, even as nearly a dozen people with severe burns are battling for their lives at three hospitals here. Sreeni layam Veetil Sreelatha, 47, of Chala and Abdul Azeez, 55, are the deceased. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the...
12:20 PM, Aug 29, 2012
Dubai: A US Navy guided missile destroyer was left with a gaping hole on one side after it collided with an oil tanker early on Sunday just outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The collision left a breach about 10 feet by 10 feet (three by three meters) in the starboard side of USS Porter. No one was injured on either vessel, the US Navy said in a statement. The...
02:31 AM, Aug 13, 2012
Abuja: As many as 200 villagers trying to scoop up fuel from an overturned tanker were killed in southern Nigeria on Thursday, when the petrol carrying vehicle exploded in a horrific inferno. The incident occurred in a village of the southern Rivers state where people had rushed to collect petrol that had spilled from a tanker that had overturned. Eyewitnesses said the fuel-laden tanker skidded off the road, spilling its...
12:28 AM, Jul 13, 2012
Hyderabad: Unable to meet the ever increasing demand for water tankers, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has at last decided to stop booking water tankers for commercial establishments such as restaurants, hotels, shopping complexes and others. Its first priority is meeting drinking water needs of domestic consumers but consumers who have booked water tankers via the water boards Dial-a-Tanker have been made to wait for more...
06:05 PM, Jun 13, 2012
