Aurangabad: Several parts of Aurangabad district, left reeling by severe water scarcity, are eagerly waiting for a revival of the monsoon.The city and surrounding areas at noon on Saturday reported medium to heavy showers. Experts say this good run is expected to continue through next week, easing the water shortage across the district.The lull in rainfall has increased the reliance on water tankers - which increased by 150 in number across Aurangabad district and a few surrounding areas from Marathwada. This rise in number of water tankers was observed over a period of one week.As per official records, the region is being supplied by 466 water tankers. Aurangabad district alone accounts for as many as 440 tankers.Barring Soygaon and Kannad talukas of Aurangabad district, seven talukas rely on water tankers after the summer. Gangapur has been receiving a maximum of 111 tankers, followed by the tehsil limits of Aurangabad that receives 90 tankers. Vaijapur gets 85; Paithan needs 46; Phulambri relies on 31; and Khultabad need 28. They are are among talukas of Aurangabad district, which are supplied with tankers.As per official records, Aurangabad district has received only about 139 mm rainfall so far. This measure accounts for only 67% of expected showers. Khultabad has maximum rainfall deficit of nearly 57%, followed by Gangapur (45%), Kannad (43%), Paithan (39%), Sillod (38%) and Soygaon (35%).A senior revenue department official said the number of water tankers in the region had surged by 152 over a period of one week. “After a brisk start to the rainy season, there is now a slump in the rains. We expected no cut in dependency on water tankers in affected areas until strong revival of monsoon,” he said, preferring anonymity.As per the met department, Aurangabad is expected to receive moderate showers amidst generally cloudy skies over the next 48-hours. That is likely to be followed by chances of heavy rain during the subsequent 24 -hours. Also, the city recorded nearly 7 mm rainfall by 5.30 pm on Saturday.Marathwada as a has received almost cent per cent (102%)rainfall during the first 45 days of the monson. Four districts, namely Nanded, Hingoli (both 125%), Latur (121%) and Osmanabad (101%) have been showing surplus rainfall, whereas Jalna (74%), Beed (83%) and Parbhani (96%) have been exeperincing less than expected showers along with Aurangabad district.

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