These photos show us what it's like to live without water in Latur

Despite being the native land of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and former union home minister Shivraj Patil, the government aid that was being provided was not even close to being enough to resolve the issue at hand.

Plagued with erratic supplies, Latur residents migrated in desperation, and took matters into their own hands, de-silting and widening barrages in the area in the hope that they would be filled when the monsoon breaks.

With people clamouring for water, the local authorities imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in areas around the 20 water storage tanks that were put in place until 31 May, to avoid any possible violence over water.

The Maharashtra government, in collaboration with the Indian railways, then arranged for a 'water train' with 10 wagons carrying water to be sent to Latur from Miraj in Western Maharashtra, bringing much needed relief to the drought-stricken region.

As political parties clamoured to take credit for the relief provided, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to resolve the water crisis, and offered to send 10 lakh litres of water to the Marathwada region from Delhi for a period of two months.

But, with gallons and gallons of water still being wasted for cleaning helipads in the region to welcome VIPs, Maharashtra's water woes are far from being gone.

Edited by Anna Verghese

Text by Manimanjari Sengupta

Photo curated by Vikas Kumar