The Maharashtra water crisis has intensified, with the number of tankers supplying drinking water in rural areas rising 25.7% in one week to 768 as dam storage across the state falls sharply. The tankers are now serving 3,082 villages and hamlets, up from 2,664 the previous week, according to figures reported by Times of India.
The state has added 157 tankers in a week, from 611 to 768. The increase is unusual for this point in the year: no tankers were deployed during the corresponding period in any of the past five years, the report said.
Marathwada accounts for nearly half of the current tanker deployment, with 374 vehicles, or 48.7% of the state total. Western Maharashtra is using 218 tankers and North Maharashtra 176. No tankers have been deployed in Konkan or Vidarbha so far.
At the district level, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has the highest deployment in the state with 169 tankers, followed by Beed with 166. Ahilyanagar is using 161 tankers, while Kolhapur has 123. The distribution highlights how unevenly water stress is affecting Maharashtra, with Marathwada facing the most immediate dependence on emergency supply.
The tanker rise coincides with a steep fall in dam storage. Live water levels across Maharashtra are at 72.1% of capacity, compared with 90.6% during the same period last year. The decline is most pronounced in Marathwada, where live storage stands at 42.7% of capacity against 86.9% last year.
Storage has also dropped in other regions. Dams in the Amravati division are at 60.9% of capacity, compared with 88.6% last year, while Nagpur’s storage is at 68.6%, down from 89.8%. Western Maharashtra is at 82.9%, compared with 93.7% last year. In Konkan, where rainfall is usually more plentiful, live storage has fallen to 88.8% from 93% during the same period last year.
The state has already declared a 10% water cut for rural and urban local bodies from October 16. Industries have been asked to recycle 30% of their total water consumption, while 10% of the fresh water in each major reservoir is being reserved for emergencies. The state’s reported assessment links the poor rainfall conditions to the El Nino effect.
The immediate challenge is therefore moving beyond drought-prone pockets. The tanker figures show a widening gap between available stored water and the needs of settlements that depend on regular drinking-water supply. The next official milestones are the implementation of the water cuts from October 16 and the monitoring of reservoir storage and tanker demand across the state.
