Lucknow: The Akhilesh government in Uttar Pradesh has turned down the centre’s proposal to send a water train to Bundelkhand that has been severely affected by drought and water crisis.
The Centre had earlier sent two water trains to Latur in Maharashtra. “We do not have a Latur-like problem here. If we need water, we will inform the railways”, said a letter sent by the state government to the railways ministry.
UP minister Shivpal Singh Yadav said that there was no need for a water train because there is no paucity of water in Bundelkhand because the state government had made arrangements, Besides, he said, there was a problem of storage.
The water train with ten wagons of water had reached Jhansi district late on Wednesday night and has been stationed there. The train was to reach Mahoba but officials are now waiting for further orders.
Interestingly, Mr Akhilesh used his official twitter handle on Thursday to ask the district magistrate of Jhansi to verify if the water train has water or not. The terse letter and the UP government’s stand reflects a battle for credit in the state and also deriving political mileage for relief in Bundelkhand region.
