West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Centre's Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and the Jharkhand government for triggering "man-made" floods in the south Bengal. Mamata claimed the DVC and Jharkhand's Tenughat and Panchet dams have saved their own state and released water into Bengal. She announced that she will cut all ties with the Damodar Valley Corporation.
Lakhs of people have been affected by floods, she said. "Look at the flow and speed of the water. Everything will go underwater at any time," Mamata added.
Ten districts in Bengal, including Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Burdwan, and East Burdwan, have been affected by floods. A significant rainfall occurred in the lower Damodar valley area in West Bengal from September 14-15, whereas the Upper Valley in Jharkhand experienced heavy rainfall from September 15-16 due to a deep depression over Gangetic West Bengal and subsequently over Jharkhand.
The worst-hit areas in south Bengal include Amta and Udaynarayanpur in Howrah, Pursurah in Hooghly, Ghatal in West Midnapore, and Panskura in East Midnapore. The Damodar Valley Corporation released 90,000 cusecs of water on Monday night and 2.1 lakh cusecs on Tuesday. Mamata said this kind of water discharge had never happened before. "DVC has released 3.5 lakh cusecs of water. I have talked with the DVC officials and the Jharkhand chief minister. But of no avail," she said.
Govt On Mamata's Allegations
The Union Power Ministry in a statement said that all authorities concerned were informed regarding the scheduled release of water from the dams. "All releases are as advised by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), which has representatives from the Government of West Bengal, Government of Jharkhand, Central Water Commission (Member Secretary) and from DVC," it said.
The Jal Shakti Ministry issued a statement saying all parties concerned were kept informed about the weather conditions lilkely to prevail from September 14 to 16.
"All stakeholders, including the West Bengal Government, have been kept in the loop about changing weather patterns. Maithon and Panchet reservoirs are managed by a committee with active participation from the Governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand," the ministry said.
The ministry said IMD predicted heavy rainfall from across the Barakar-Damodar basin during this period.
Opposition Slams Mamata
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari hit out at CM Mamata and described her visit to the affected areas as a PR stunt. "CM Mamata Banerjee your ploy and strategy to shift blame is getting old and repetitive," he said on X.