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
New Delhi: Four people have died and nearly 16 injured in clashes that took place in Mathura on Thursday. Eight companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 4 companies of Rapid Action Force have reportedly reached the area and Section 144 has been imposed in the area after clashes took place over a water tanker. A few instances of arson and stone pelting were also reported. However, the situation is...
10:16 AM, Jun 02, 2012
Mumbai: Water, the elixir of life, needs to be preserved and conserved. Thats an indisputable fact. But government authorities appear to be carrying out this conservation keeping thousands perennially parched. So, while a person living in Mumbai gets about 45 litres of water a day, a study in stark contrast is the fate of Nashera in Mokhada taluka, Thane. This little village of 1,300 inhabitants got its first lot of...
01:27 PM, Apr 26, 2012
