Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the previous state and central governments of devastating the Bundelkhand region by handing over its resources and forests to mafia elements who "looted" them.
"The governments which had been there in Delhi and UP left no stone unturned in devastating this region turn by turn," Prime Minister said in Mahoba while inaugurating a slew of projects aimed at ending the water scarcity in the parched Bundelkhand region.
"It is not hidden from anyone that the jungles and resources were handed over to the mafia. The manner in which these people behaved with Bundelkhand will not be forgotten by the people here," he said.
"A lot was said and done in the name of "nalkoop" and hand pumps but earlier governments did not tell how water could be made available in the absence of groundwater," the Prime Minister pointed out.
"Now when the bulldozer is being used against mafia (elements), some people are raising hue and cry. But whatever they may try to do, the development UP and Bundelkhand will not stop," the Prime Minister asserted.
"The question is how this area, which was an example for water conservation in the past, turned into a centre of exodus and water-related problems," the prime minister said.
"Why were the people not ready to marry their daughters here and daughters here wished they got married to areas where there is water?" he asked.
Attacking the "pariwarwadis" (dynastic) governments, he said they kept most of the UP villages thirsty for decades but the government of "karma yogis" in two years gave tap water to 30 lakh people, said PM Modi, lauding the Yogi Adityanath government's work in the parched region.
"The governments of "pariwarwadis" kept children and daughters deprived of drinking water facilities but the double engine government made separate toilets in schools," he said.
They made announcements in the name of farmers but not a paisa used to reach them, he said.
"In the name of ponds, ribbons were cut but the "commission" was taken in the digging work for embankments and there was corruption in drought relief works," PM Modi said.
"Those in the government looted Bundelkhand and benefitted their families without caring for your families crying for every drop of water," he said, citing the example of the Arjun Sahayak project, inaugurated by him today, as an example of their work culture.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
