Railways to transport water to drought hit areas

New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) Indian Railways will transport water to drought affected areas in the country, an official statement said here on Friday.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has directed the railway administration to make necessary arrangements in this regard, the statement said.

"On a request from Maharashtra Government and Central Railway Zone, Railway Ministry has arranged two goods trains consisting of 50 tanker like wagons each for the purpose of loading and transporting water in the drought-affected areas of Latur district in Maharashtra," the statement said.

Kota workshop of Indian Railways has been directed to undertake steam cleaning of wagons for the purpose of loading drinking water. The two goods trains will be deployed in Pandharpur-Latur section of Solapur division.

The first goods train consisting of 50 wagons will be ready for water loading after steam cleaning from Kota workshop on April 8, and the second train is expected to be ready around April 15.

These will be deployed in Latur during the summer season of the financial year 2016-17. The trips of the goods trains will be arranged as per requirement.

Earlier in January this year many goods trains were deployed to transport water from Nasirabad to Bhilwada in Ajmer Division, after demands by the Rajasthan Government and North Western Railway Zone.

The water carrying capacity is around 55,000 litres per wagon which means around 275,0000 litres per train.