Playing a Joke with parched Bundelkhand and thirsty people

R. Narayan

Come election and the tone and tenor of politicians change. They all play to the gallery .The appeasement begins at a faster pace. This is as true about the political class in Uttar Pradesh as in other parts of the country. The news of the Centre proposing to send a water train to Bundelkhand and the state government refusing to accept the offer can be better understood in this light. In this political game the sufferer, as always, is the people or voter who is used as a pawn.

The Bundelkhnd part of the state is drought-prone. It has been facing water crisis for the past ten years. As many as 3500 farmers have committed suicide during this period, if pro-kisan lobby can be believed. But neither had the state government nor the government at the Centre thought of them till about a week back. But, now that the election in U P is round the corner, the two are vying with each other to come to their rescue.

The Railway ministry came out, a few days ago, with the proposal to send a water train to the area to quench their thirst. The train was scheduled to reach Mahoba, the worst-hit drought area in the region, on Friday. The idea, understandably, was opposed by the state government. Perhaps it saw in it a motive of attracting the Bundelkhand farmers and, therefore, came out with a story that there is no need for this train in that area.

Leader after leader tweeted that the state government had taken sufficient measures in advance to ensure that there was no shortage of drinking water in the area. State irrigation minister Shiv Pal Yadav who is the uncle of the chief minister has gone on record saying that Bundelkhand is not Latur where the first such train was despatched recently.

Not to lag behind, government officials doled out figures to suggest that proper care has been taken and that there is absolutely no need of sending any water train. To quote a district magistrate ( the region has several districts) ,” thirty two tankers are operating in the area. We have 235 tankers in reserve which can be despatched immediately on demand”.

All this is understandable. What is difficult to fathom , in this light, is the demand from the Centre of the chief minister to send 10,000 tankers to U P to send water to different areas by road. The demand has come a day before the scheduled arrival of the water train. If you need water tanker why are you opposed to water wagon? One explanation can be that the state government is trying to convey to the Centre that it has chosen a wrong place and therefore the action is not plausible.

The other message is that you don’t bother about this state and that we are here to well look after the people. This is aimed largely at the gullible voters. It is also making much of the fact that empty rail wagons had arrived at Jhansi. The water train meant for Mahoba was to be sent via Jhansi.

The state government’s claim is, however, disputed by non-government organisations and some others. A man known as Jal Purush who studied the situation in the area has come out with some startling figures. According to him , out of the total 12,000 ponds in the region only 1200 have not gone dry. Clearly, enough has not been done in the area either by the state or the Centre. Proposals by the Centre and the state, thus, appear to be just an eye-wash.