Railways offers water to Navi Mumbai, Thane from its Dighe dam

The railway minister has asked the concerned railway authorities to help NMMC and TMC to solve their water shortage problem

After providing a water train "Jaldoot" to Latur, Indian Railways has come to the rescue of people facing acute water crisis in Navi Mumbai and Thane as the public transporter has offered water to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC).

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has asked the concerned railway authorities to help NMMC and TMC to solve their water shortage problem, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Accordingly, it has been decided that water will be supplied from railways Dighe dam on Thane Belapur road for the NMMC and TMC.

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"We have permitted NMMC to lift water from our railway dam at Dighe for the next three months," Central Railway General Manager SK Sood said in a statement.

Railway officials along with municipal officials will visit the dam site on Monday to work out modalities for supplying water to the parched areas from the dam.

Railways has many check dams for supplying water for its colonies, stations and other rail users.

Water tankers will be used for supplying water from Dighe dam to NMMC and TMC, both of which had to resort to sharp water supply cuts, the official said.

Railways is continuing to transport water in the 50-wagon freight train named 'Jaldoot' to the parched Latur and over 120 lakh litres of water has been supplied so far.