64,000 pipelines in Marathwada: Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: In a bid to provide water to the drought-hit Marathwada, the state government will lay down a 64,000-kilometre pipeline network in the region.

The announcement was made by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

As part of the first water grid in Marathwada, dams will be inter-linked and 64,000-kilometre pipeline will be laid for providing filtered water to its villages and cities 365 days of the year.

“A tender has been floated in Aurangabad and Jalna districts. The government will spend `20,000 crore on this project,” Mr Fadnavis said.

Mr Modi and Mr Fadnavis were in Aurangabad, where the former addressed a state-level ‘Mahila Saksham Melava’ (Empowered Women’s Meet) of Self-help Groups organised by the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (UMED).

While addressing the gathering in Aurangabad, the chief minister said that water would be brought from Konkan to Marathwada in order to end the drought.

“Under your (Mr Modi’s) leadership, we have decided to make Marathwada drought free. Hundred and sixty-seven TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water, which flows into the sea in the Konkan region, will be brought to the Godavari basin,” Mr Fadnavis said.

The chief minister also expressed confidence that the Union government will provide all assistance to ensure that this project is completed expeditiously.