’Water train’ reaches drought-hit Latur, after travelling 18 hours

Mangalore Today News Network

Apr 12, 2016: In a major relief for drought-hit Marathwada region, the first ever water train reached Latur on Tuesday morning. The ’water train’ with 10 wagons, each with a capacity of 54,000 litres of water, had left from Miraj in western Maharashtra at around 11 am on Monday and reached Latur at 5 am on Tuesday. The train travelled a distance of around 350 kilometres in 18 hours.

 

 

The district administration has acquired a huge well located near Latur railway station to store the water which will then be supplied to Latur town.

The second train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15, a Railway official said earlier.

"As per instructions from the Ministry of Railways, Kota workshop received two goods trains consisting of 50 tank wagons each for deployment in drought-affected areas of Latur during the summer season and the trips of the trains will be arranged as per the requirement," Chief spokesperson of Central Railway Narendra Patil said.