Bengal floods caused by excess water release to save Jharkhand; will cut ties with DVC: Mamata

Kolkata, Sep 19 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that the flood situation in the state was because of DVC's unbridled release of water from its dams to save Jharkhand.

Holding the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) responsible for the "man-made" floods in West Bengal, she said her government would sever all ties with it.

She also accused the Centre of failing to carry out dredging at DVC dams, the release of water from which resulted in floods in several districts of West Bengal.

Banerjee, who visited Panskura in Purba Medinipur district and Udaynarayanpur in Howrah district to monitor the flood situation, said, "This is not rainwater, this is water released by central government organisation DVC from its dams. This is a man-made flood, and it's unfortunate. Why isn't the Centre dredging the DVC dams, where the water storage capacity has decreased by 36 per cent. There is a larger conspiracy at play. This cannot continue and we will start a major movement against this." "The flood situation in West Bengal is because of DVC's unbridled release of water from its dams to save Jharkhand. We will not keep any ties with DVC," she said.

DVC dams are located at Maithon and Panchet, both along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border.

Banerjee alleged there was a "well-planned conspiracy" to put West Bengal in this situation.

"This has never happened before. I am in fear of what I have seen. We conduct meetings from time to time. I had personally called the DVC chairman and requested him not to release too much water.

"In north Bengal, floods occur due to water from Nepal and Bhutan and in south Bengal it is mainly due to the water released from Jharkhand," she said, adding that the state's border with Jharkhand will be shut for the next three days, without elaborating on the reason.

Banerjee claimed that the DVC has released 5.5 lakh cusecs of water this year, contributing to the current crisis.

"Yes, it rained for 4-5 days but we could have handled that. We have adequate infrastructure," she said.

Later speaking in Udaynarayanpur, Banerjee said that the state has been facing similar situations in the last 13 years, though not this severe, and has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on multiple occasions but there has been no fruitful response from his end.

"We had written to the prime minister several times but our request was not considered. Our ministerial team also went to New Delhi. What more can we do? They (Centre) did nothing.

"That is why our people are facing problems. Release of water by DVC is not in our hands... it is with the Centre. They are not taking care of people in Malda also," she said.

The Centre had announced a package of Rs 700 crore to stop erosion in Farakka but did not release the funds, she claimed.

"The central government has not given money for Awas Yojana for the last three years. We will provide 11 lakh pucca houses and additional one lakh houses for food-affected people," she said.

"I will instruct the administration to ensure that everyone receives adequate relief materials," Banerjee said, adding that she has given instructions to the district magistrates and SPs to closely monitor the relief distribution process.

She said that senior ministers including Firhad Hakim, Moloy Ghatak and Arup Chakraborty, among others have been instructed to visit the districts to review the relief distribution process. PTI