News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 23rd September 2024
During a visit of the state’s flood-affected districts on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took aim at the Jharkhand government and the Center, stating that more areas would be submerged if the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) releases water via its barrages in the coming days.
Banerjee wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi a second letter on Sunday in which she declared that the Bengal government was removing its representatives from the corporation’s board and accused DVC of being the cause of the current floods in south Bengal districts.
“Two depressions have developed over the Bay of Bengal. Our flooded districts will receive heavy rainfall. The situation will worsen, especially if DVC releases more water from its dams. Villagers living in endangered areas must be evacuated immediately,” Banerjee said in East Burdwan district.
“Whenever it rains in Jharkhand, they release water into Bengal. Bihar also gets flooded, but they dig canals and direct the water towards Bengal. Political parties spend a lot of money on elections, big buildings and gigantic statues. If the Centre gives us even one fourth of this money, we can work on the Ganga Action Plan,” Banerjee said without naming any party.
Banerjee held an administrative meeting in East Burdwan where she asked officials to be proactive.
“Block development officers and local police must convince villagers in low lying areas to vacate their homes. I know nobody likes to leave their home, but life is more important. Officials must assess the damage farmers have suffered so we can disburse crop insurance funds. We have set up many flood shelters, but these are not adequate. Our officials can use school buildings since the Puja vacation will start soon,” Banerjee said after the meeting.
The chief engineer from the department and the secretary of electricity for Bengal, Shantanu Basu, resigned from the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee on Sunday, Banerjee stated on Monday.
DVC was established in July 1948 with the goal of reducing the catastrophic floods brought on by the powerful Damodar river that flows across Bihar (now Jharkhand) and Bengal. The project partners include Bengal, Jharkhand, and the Center. DVC supplies irrigation canals and generates hydel power as well.
Banerjee claimed in a letter to Modi on Sunday that DVC disregarded repeated requests from the Bengal government and discharged an excessive amount of water from its dams in Jharkhand.This week, Jharkhand experienced an abundance of rainfall, which raised the water level in the DVC dams.
“Evidence suggests that the Mython and Panchet reservoirs were not allowed to encroach beyond their maximum flood management levels (MFML) – 495 ft for Mython and 425 ft for Panchet – this time. For example, during a previous incident on August 1, 2021, Panchet reached 430.61 ft, well above its MFML, while this time it only reached 425.12 ft,” Banerjee wrote to the Modi on Sunday.
Banerjee’s accusations have been rejected by the Bengal BJP. The leaders of the group claimed that despite the frequent occurrence of floods in the upper Damodar basin due to water released from DVC dams, the TMC administration had never made an effort to construct new canals or desilt existing ones.
