The Maharashtra government has for the first time imposed section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (unlawful assembling of people) in Latur for two months, reasoning that there are law and order problems there borne out of a crisis over water.

"People were creating trouble at the filling and distribution points, and hence the collector imposed section 144," Dnyaneshwar Chavan, the superintendent of police in Latur, told dna on Sunday.

Latur, the hometown of former Congress chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh, has been receiving water only once a month. The population of the city is 4.5 lakh, and a dam that had been supplying water to the city and adjoining rural areas dried up four days ago.

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"Now, we are depending on the bore-wells and wells in the adjoining areas, but the supply of water is insufficient to meet our demand," said a local resident.

Chavan said that Latur city has been supplied with water via tankers. "The government has acquired nearby wells and tube-wells so that the residents can get water. People from different political parties have been creating a ruckus and staging protests at the filling and distribution points. We can understand that there is a shortage of water, which is because of a drought. So we have to tackle the situation peacefully," Chavan said.

The Latur collector has taken over 150 wells and tube-wells near the city in the past one month. "We have another option — to bring water from Ujani dam, which has sufficient supply. This reservoir has been providing water to Baramati, Solapur and Barshi in western Maharashtra. The government should act immediately to solve this issue before it gets out of hand," said a local BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

Ashok Chavan, the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, said that the situation is turning more severe with every passing day. "Yet, this BJP government is taking things so casually that the situation is only turning from bad to worse. Instead of providing water to the people, the government has imposed section 144. This is very unfortunate and it is the biggest failure of the government," Chavan said.

Apart from leading to the water crisis, the drought has been causing a massive agricultural crisis as well, particularly in the Marathwada region. Between January and December 2015, 3,228 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra, including 1,536 in Vidharbha and 1,454 in Marathwada.