Fresh trouble for Mamata? Bengal CM blames Centre for floods; angers INDIA ally JMM too

The West Bengal government’s woes never seem to end. Just as the protesting doctors finally decided to return to work from Saturday (September 21) after more than a month of cease work, the state is grappling with floods in south Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), a central statutory body, and the neighbouring state of Jharkhand for releasing water from dams without informing the Bengal government, leading to the floods.

“It is a planned flood. We repeatedly told the DVC not to release water, but they continue to do it. Even on Thursday morning, they released water and new areas got inundated. In this situation, we have to think about cutting off all communications with DVC. We will protest against it,” said Banerjee, after visiting Paschim and Purba Medinipur districts.

Blame game begins

Not only did she blame the Centre-controlled DVC, but Banerjee also took potshots at the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government which is part of the INDIA bloc.

She said she had spoken to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren thrice to discuss the situation. She said she had requested the DVC and the Jharkhand government not to release water into Bengal, and if they wanted to discharge water, to give prior intimation about it. She also said they could release the water slowly.

They instead released 3.5 lakh cusecs of water without informing the Bengal government, which Banerjee said was unprecedented. The Bengal chief minister also accused the DVC and Soren government of “flooding Bengal to save Jharkhand”.

Centre denies allegations

The Union Jal Shakti Ministry refuted Mamata’s allegations in a statement, saying the DVC followed protocols while informing the Bengal government about the scheduled release of water.

“All releases are as advised by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRCC) which has representatives from Govt of West Bengal, Govt of Jharkhand, Central Water Commission, and from DVC,” the statement from the Jal Shakti ministry said.

The ministry also accused the Jharkhand government of unilaterally releasing 85,000 cusecs of water from the Tenughat dam.

In a game of back-and-forth, an official in the Jharkhand Water Resource Department denied any role of his government in the release of water to Bengal. He said it was a committee led by DVC officials that made the decision.

Bengal stops vehicles from Jharkhand

The West Bengal police prevented vehicles from Jharkhand from entering Bengal at the Dhanbad-West Burdwan border in Kulti. The Bengal government said it closed the Bengal-Jharkhand border to prevent cars from being swept away by floods.

The Bengal chief minister said the interstate border would be closed for three days.

Jharkhand retaliates

Reacting to the Bengal government's closure of the border, the JMM on Thursday (September 19) threatened to block the movement of trucks into West Bengal from Jharkhand.

The ruling party said the Bengal government’s move to close the border was made in haste and was unreasonable.