Rail coaches ferry water to Rajasthan villages

Rail coaches ferry water to parched Rajasthan villages
by Lokendra Singh

Pali (Rajasthan): For villagers in Rajasthan, water crisis in summers is not unusual but what is remarkable is rail coaches ferrying water to the parched locals in Pali. The villagers wait eagerly for the 65 wagon train, which makes two rounds a day, providing around 26,00,000 litres of water daily to these people. An initiative of the State Government and the Indian Railways, the total cost of the water train project is rupees 126 million. "The water is being transported from Jodhpur to cope with the water problem in Pali. A train of 65 wagons is deployed which does two rounds a day and around 26,00,000 litres of water everyday," said Dinesh Purohit, resident engineer, Water Distribution Department. The train, which will run from May till the month of July, has brought respite to the villagers. "We are facing lot of problems due to water shortage. For the past three days, we have had no water in our house. I have come here to fill water. It is very troublesome. Water scarcity is a major problem here," said Sharan, a villager. As opposed to waiting for the water, which used to come once in five days, the villagers have now got direct access to clean water twice a day. "Earlier, we used to get water supply once in five days. There used to be no water for bathing, cooking and other chores. Now with the start of this train, at least we get clean water. There must be some arrangements made for us as we are workers and need water to clean ourselves," said Rameshwari, another villager. Apart from Pali, Dungarpur, Rajsamand, Barmer, Nagaur, Jhalawar are some of the other regions getting water from train. Rajasthan being an arid region, faces acute water shortage as lack of proper rainfall in the state leads to depletion in ground water level and also drying up of rivers and lakes. According to official data, out of 237 blocks in the state, only 12 had its ground water table exhausted in 1984, but the count rose in 2008, when 164 blocks had its ground water table exhausted.
-May 11, 2009

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