After drawing flak from all quarters for sending a bill of Rs 4 crore to the Maharashtra government for carrying water to Latur via rail, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday swung into dama
After drawing flak from all quarters for sending a bill of Rs 4 crore to the Maharashtra government for carrying water to Latur via rail, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday swung into damage control mode and asked the administration to withdraw the bill immediately. The Asian Age was the first to report on Wednesday that the Railways had sent a bill to the state government and that the latter had asked the Centre for a waiver.
The Railways had sent the local administration a bill of Rs 4 crore as operational costs of running around 50 wagons to and fro between Latur and Miraj, a distance of 324 km. The Railways has claimed the bill was not sent by it, but the Latur district administration, namely the collector, had asked for it. The Railways further said it had no intention of eking out the money from the state government.
The release stated Mr Prabhu was personally monitoring the situation.
“The minister has directed the Indian Railways to continue operating the trains as long as there is need for water and the settlement of operational expenses will never be a constraint in this regard. The minister has further ordered that the estimate of expenditure, which was sent to the Latur administration, on their request, will be withdrawn immediately. The issue of settlement of dues is being considered separately by the Railway Ministry,” the Railways has stated in the release.
The release further stated the railway administration rose to the occasion to meet the water needs of the drought-affected areas and finally concluded that the settlement of the expenditure is not relevant at this point. “The most important matter is to continue uninterruptedly with the transportation of water to the people in their hour of need,” added the release.
The railways had made a cost estimate on the basis of the number of trips and the number of wagons used during each of these trips. So far, 6.2 crore litres of water have been sent to drought-hit Latur. After the state sought the Railways help in drought relief, the latter in an unprecedented move immediately dispatched trains with 10 wagons each to Latur last month carrying water from Miraj in western Maharashtra. This had brought cheer to Latur citizens, who were finding it difficult to rely solely on government tankers for the water. Later, the wagons were increased to 50 to carry more water.
