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New Delhi: A day after Uttar Pradesh government refused to accept Centre’s water train for drought-hit Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav met Narendra Modi on Saturday to discuss the drought situation in the state.
After the meeting, Modi tweeted, “Had a productive meeting with Akhilesh Yadav on the drought situation in various parts of UP.”
During the meeting, Modi and Yadav discussed the need to effectively utilise the period before monsoon for water recharge and conservation efforts.
Various drought mitigation measures undertaken in the state were discussed extensively in the meeting, tweeted Modi.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had 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.
It, however, requested the Centre to provide it 10,000 water tankers for distributing water in the region.
On Thursday, Modi had written a letter to chief ministers of drought-hit Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka inviting them for a special meeting to discuss the prevailing situation.
The Centre has already made it clear that while it was doing its bit to provide relief to those affected by the drought, it was for the states themselves to address the situation on the ground.
“The Centre’s role is to monitor and the state’s role is to provide assistance and help the affected people at ground level,” Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had said in Rajya Sabha recently while replying to a debate on drought.
“The central government does its bit, but all state governments should also do their best” in addressing the drought situation, he had said.
Singh had insisted that farmers are a priority for the central government and it was taking adequate measures.
Talking about the steps taken by the Centre, he said it has eased norms for providing relief and even the allocation for State Disaster Response Fund has been raised.
