KOLKATA: After taking stock of the flood situation in parts of south Bengal districts, CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to PM Narendra Modi alleging that excessive release of water by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) resulted in the "man-made" flood and sought his intervention for drafting a plan to upgrade the dam in the region.
Mamata, in her four-page letter, said 16 persons died in the flood and lakhs of farmers lost their livelihood.
Earlier in the day, Modi telephoned Mamata to seek updates on the flood situation and assured her of assistance from the Centre
"In respect of the current flood, we will shortly be sending our damage assessment for your kind intervention. I would reiterate the need to develop holistic and long-term solutions in respect to the augmentation of the storage capacity of the DVC system to ensure that West Bengal is spared the regular devastation and suffering from man-made floods perpetrated by huge releases from DVC dams," Mamata wrote.
Expressing her discontent over the issue of financial help to combat natural calamity, Mamata alleged, "Despite the state being regularly ravaged by natural disasters in the form of cyclones and man-made floods which we are presently witnessing, no financial help has been forthcoming from the Centre. The state has to cope with compensating the loss of lives and property from our meagre resources."
During the conversation over the phone, Mamata complained to Modi that the DVC allegedly released water from its dams in an unplanned manner causing a man-made flood situation in the state, said an official of the state government.
In a Tweet issued by the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) said that Modi assured Bengal government of all possible support from the Centre.
"PM@Narendramodi spoke to WB CM@MamataOfficial on the flood situation caused by water discharge from dams in parts of the state. PM assured all possible support from the Centre to help mitigate the situation. PM Modi prays for the safety and wellbeing of those in the affected areas," the PMO tweeted.