KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sent Prime Minister Narendra Modi another letter on the flood situation in West Bengal, maintaining that Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released water from its reservoirs without consulting her government, inundating several districts.
Responding to Banerjee’s earlier letter to the PM, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil had said the state’s officials were informed at every stage about the release of water from the DVC reservoirs, which was essential to prevent a major disaster.
To which Banerjee said, “While the Hon’ble minister claims that the release from DVC dams was carried out by consensus and collaboration with the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee, including consultations with representatives of the government of West Bengal, I may respectfully disagree.”
“All the critical decisions are made unilaterally by representatives of the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India without arriving at a consensus,” she said.
Banerjee claimed that sometimes water is released without any notice to the state and the views of her government are not honoured. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Sep/22/bengal-power-secretary-santanu-basu-steps-down-from-dvc-board
“Moreover, peak release from the reservoirs lasting for a prolonged period of nine hours were conducted with only 3.5 hours notice which proved insufficient for effective disaster management,” she said in the letter dated September 21, which was made public on Sunday.
In her earlier letter to the PM Modi on September 20, she claimed that 5 million people in the state were affected by the floods, and urged him to immediately release central funds. In his letter, Paatil explained that the releases were managed by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee, which includes representatives from the Central Water Commissionand DVC.
Flood in Bihar’s 12 dists
Flood water has gushed into 12 districts of Bihar even as people are being evacuated from the low-lying areas of these districts. Patna, Buxar, Bhojpur, Vaishali, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Lakhisarai, Munger, Samastipur, Begusarai and Vaishali are among the worst affected districts. As many as 1288 boats and 18 boat ambulances have been pressed into service into the affected areas, sources at state disaster management department say.