Uttar Pradesh government turns down Centre's offer to provide water to drought-hit Bundelkhand

Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday turned down central government's offer to send a water-train to the drought-hit Bundelkhand region.

"Humare paas bahut pani hai? Hume kisi ki madad ki awashykta nahi hai (We have sufficient supply of water ? We do not need any kind of help from any one (Centre)," Shivpal Yadav, senior cabinet minister of the Uttar Pradesh government said.

A 10-wagon water-train has already arrived in Jhansi, where it is has been kept in the railway yard. It will reach Mahoba on Friday.

"The wagons are ready to be filled with water from a nearby reservoir and be dispatched to destinations as and when needed," Commercial Officer, Jhansi Railway Division, Girish Kanchan said.

It is to be mentioned that the state government on Thursday turned down the Centre's offer to send a water-train to the state's drought-hit Bundelkhand region, saying the water crisis situation there was not as serious as in Maharashtra's Latur.

The state government, however, requested the Centre to provide it 10,000 water tankers for distributing water in the region.

"We do not have any requirement to bring water by train...We have made arrangements for providing water... Wherever tankers are required, an assessment has been made and tankers have been bought," Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said.

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