Mumbai: Marathwada is struggling for water as the area only has 5.5 per cent water stock left in its reservoirs. The biggest dam in the area, Jayakwadi Dam has also dried up.

Earlier, the Maharashtra government had declared a drought in 151 tehsils across 26 districts after rainfall below the average level,  The reservoirs in Maharashtra have less than 40 per cent water stock left in them.  Among all the areas that are drought-affected, eight districts of Marathwada are the worst hit. A major part of these areas is constituted by agricultural land.

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According to the report, the nine major reservoirs in Marathwada have just 0.7 per cent water stock left in them. These reservoirs are- Paithan, Manjara, Yeldari, Siddeshwar, Majalgaon, Lower Terna, Lower Manar, Sina Kolegaon and Lower Dudhana. Lowe Manar is the only reservoir with 20.63 water stock in it.

State Water Resources Minister, Girish Mahajan told Hindustan Times  that the extreme scarcity of water is a result of less rainfall. Mahajan added that they do not want the people to suffer due to delay in decision making and to compensate for the same, the Maharashtra government has allowed them to deploy any number of water tankers in the area. 

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A senior official of the Aurangabad district collectorate stated that the last round of rainfall in Aurangabad was in August. In 2017, the area received 62 per cent rainfall which fell down to 53 per cent the next year. As of now, 924 tankers have been deployed in the district to provide water to 625 villages.