UP: We will free Bundelkhand from curse of drought, says CM Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: “We will free Bundelkhand from the curse of drought,” said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Jhansi while laying the foundation for what is being touted as a life-changing scheme for the water-parched regions of Bundelkhand on Tuesday.
Under the first phase of the mega piped-water project, ‘Jal Jivan Mission’ and ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme -- 12 rural piped water projects worth Rs 2,185 crore will be commissioned in 770 villages in the districts of Jhansi, Lalitpur and Mahoba.
“In two years from now, every house in all revenue villages will get piped water. We will free Bundelkhand from the curse of drought. This region has everything but till now, there was no political will power to free it from drought, poverty or migration. The work of giving piped water to this area should have happened much earlier. Every year after January there is a shortage of water in Bundelkhand,” the chief minister said.
Now the women will not have to travel far for water but will get it at home,” the CM said, adding that before BJP came to power, Bundelkhand used to be ruled by a mining mafia which had created anarchy.
He also added that as water supply will start, it will become equally important to conserve water and said that rainwater harvesting on rooftops, in gardens and fields will become extremely important. In a programme where attendance was limited to about a 100 people to maintain social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CM performed a bhoomi pujan in Jhansi’s Murata village. He was accompanied by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, state Jal Shakti minister Mahendra Singh and UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for initiating the development projects in the region, the CM said that he laid the foundation for piped-water in Bundelkhand in 2019, after the previous Jhansi MP Uma Bharti, who also headed the water ministry in the Centre, proposed a water relief project.
“We are committed to the overall growth of Bundelkhand. In February, PM Modi laid the foundation of the Bundelkhand Expressway in Chitrakoot which will prove to be the lifeline of this region,” the CM said, adding that 40% of the earth work had been completed. He added that two nodes of the important Defence Corridor were also located in Bundelkhand, which would bring development and industrialisation in the area. “The tanks that will be produced here will be used against the enemy at the border,” the CM said.
There are 4,513 villages in the seven districts of Bundelkhand. Out of these, 891 already have access to potable water. The government will provide piped water in the remaining 3,622 villages through 479 projects. This will benefit an estimated population of 67 lakh. The cost of the projects has been estimated to Rs 10,131.92 crore.
The CM said that in the first phase which was inaugurated on Tuesday, 345 villages in Jhansi district will get access to water through six projects at an estimated cost of Rs 964.47 crore. In Lalitpur district, 197 villages will be benefitted with piped potable water at a cost of Rs 543.51 crore. Similarly in Mahoba district, 228 villages will be benefitted projects which are being commissioned for Rs 676.65 crore.
Hitting out at the opposition, he said that before his government came to power, mining mafia used to rule Bundelkhand, but now everything was in order. “We have also focused in opening up a number of cow sheds to check the growing menace of ‘Anna Pratha’ (stray cows)”.