Latur residents to get water every 10 days

Aurangabad: Residents of Latur will now receive water through taps after a gap of 10 days, instead of 15. Thanks to good rainfall during the retreating monsoon, Latur district administration said it has been able to increase the frequency of water supply frequency, an official release said.

Authorities also appealed to citizens to make judicious use of the water as officials said the threat of water scarcity still lingers in the region.

Residents will have to make do with the current water stock until the next monsoon.

“The Manjra dam that supplies water to Latur is still in dead storage, but has received inflows which can meet the city's drinking water needs for the next few months," an official said. "The revival of the dam to some extent has been possible because of good rainfall activity during the withdrawal of monsoon.”

Manjra dam, which showed nearly 4% live storage, has received over 1.3 TMC water through inflows since June 1.

Authorities said Latur city will need around 15 MCUM water (0.53 TMC) until the arrival of the monsoon next year. “Along with Manjra dam, the Dhanegaon barrage that supplies water to Latur is also in dead storage. We appeal to residents to take note of the situation and avoid wastage,” authorities said.

The Latur Municipal Corporation had decided to stop the supply of water through taps post Diwali as reservoirs were showing some of the lowest levels recorded in the recent past. The LMC had plans to supply each household 100 litres of water per day through tanker, in order to ensure judicious use. The revival of the monsoon, however, has offered some relief.

Sangita Beedkar, a resident of Latur, said people were used to water supply after a gap of 15 days. “It may sound strange, but we have learnt to live with water scarcity. The increased frequency of water will surely alleviate our suffering to some extent,” said Beedkar, who runs a canteen.