The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday blamed the Centre for the death of a journalist, who was electrocuted yesterday while trying to take photographs of the water train parked at Jhansi railway station.
According to reports, the Indian Express photo journalist Ravi Kanojia had climbed atop the wagon of a water train to check the quality of water, but was electrocuted on the spot when he came in contact with the high voltage wire above.
"Yesterday, a journalist who came to click pictures of water train got electrocuted at the spot. The Government of India is responsible for this.The Centre's political drama in Uttar Pradesh is for everyone to see. A water train has been stationed in Jhansi for the past one week," Samajwadi Party's Chandrapal Singh said in the Rajya Sabha.
The 34-year-old photo journalist was on an assignment to cover the spat between the Centre and the Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh Government over the water crisis in Bundelkhand.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has expressed his condolences over the scribe's death and announced a compensation of Rs. 20 lakh to the victim's family.
Earlier, the Centre had ordered the Indian Railways to send 10-wagon water train to Bundelkhand region to provide relief from drought-like situation. The state government, however, has said the situation in Bundelkhand is 'not as serious' as in Maharashtra's Latur and claimed that it had enough resources to tackle the crisis.
The Uttar Pradesh Government also reportedly said that they had instead requested the Centre to provide 10,000 empty road tankers.
