Refusal of Uttar Pradesh to accept water train for parched Bundelkhand region today evoked sharp reaction from the Centre with Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti telling the Akhilesh Yadav government to shed "arrogance" for the sake of the needy people.
"I request the Uttar Pradesh government not to be arrogant. Either you give water to the people or welcome the step taken by the government of India...People are thirsty. People, animals, birds are dying," she told reporters outside Parliament House.
BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said if the state government has actually refused to accept the water train sent by the Centre, then it becomes the moral responsibility of the SP government to provide water to the people of Bundelkhand.
Former Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that there is sufficient water in Bundelkhand but due to lack of proper management, it is not reaching the people.
"UPA had linked water management with MNREGA. But due to corruption nothing happened in Bundelkhand," she said.
The state government today turned down the Centre's offer to send a water-train to drought-hit Bundelkhand region, saying the water crisis there was not as serious as in Maharashtra's Latur.
It, however, requested the Centre to provide it 10,000 water tankers for distributing water in the region.
