Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Sunday cleared Rs 47-crore package for drinking water in Bundelkhand region, reported PTI. He said his government would release more funds, if need be, to ensure that people and cattle of the region have enough drinking water.

The CM said the region had been ignored by previous governments for the past 15 years. “Adityanath is also expected to visit the region this month,” a UP government spokesperson said. “Now, the state government will make all efforts to ensure the development of the region in a planned manner.”

The newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party government has also decided to intensify National Rural Livelihood Mission in the region to offer an alternative sources of income to the people, help construct water tanks and build dug wells and farm ponds. The state will work with the Centre to find sustainable solutions for the region that faces acute shortage of water every year during summer months.

Last year, the Samajwadi Party government had rejected the Centre’s offer to send a water train to the drought-hit regions of Bundelkhand. The Akhilesh Yadav government had said that the region was not facing a scarcity of water as severe as that in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region. However, despite the SP government’s stand, the Centre had sent a water train to Jhansi on May 6, 2016, but the state said it was empty.