Mamata writes to PM on flood situation in WB, seeks his intervention for upgrading DVC dams

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after taking stock of the flood situation in six districts of the state, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, urging him to draft a plan for de-siltation and renovation of dams in the region to avoid “man-made” disasters in the future.

Banerjee, in her letter, held ''unprecedented release of water from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dams Panchet, Maithon and Tenughat'' responsible for the crisis.

The chief minister, who visited flood-hit Udaynarayanpur in Howrah district during the day, pointed out that 16 people have died in the flood and lakhs of farmers lost their livelihood.

She also noted that houses, bridges and power lines have suffered extensive damage.

''Apart from the loss of 16 precious lives, there have been unprecedented displacement, suffering and loss of livelihood of lakhs and lakhs of farmers and people at large causing extensive damage to agricultural crops, fisheries, houses, roads, bridges, power lines and other infrastructure (sic),'' she said.

Banerjee further said that despite her requests for urgent renovation of DVC assets, and essential de-siltation and dredging of the dams, nothing was done to address the matter.

The CM stated that on earlier occasions, too, she had insisted that water-holding capacity of DVC dams be increased to prevent the recurrent wrath of floods in Bengal.

“I had specifically requested for taking up de-siltation of Panchet dam to add 100 million cubic metre of additional storage capacity... construction of a ring embankment on Maithon dam to add additional 120 million cubic metre of storage-capacity and subsequent desilting of the dam,” Banerjee said.

She maintained that a sixth dam should have been constructed in Balpahari, Jharkhand, in accordance with the “original plan of the DVC”.

The state had faced similar situations in 2015, 2017, 2019 following ''heavy release (of water) from DVC dams'', the feisty TMC boss underlined in her four-page letter.

''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 augmentation of 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 the DVC dams,'' she said, adding that the state -- ravaged by cyclones and floods -- hasn't received any financial help from the Centre.

Heavy rain over the last few days and subsequent discharge of water from DVC dams have inundated large parts of Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly, Howrah and South 24 Parganas districts.

Modi had telephoned Banerjee earlier in the day to seek updates on the flood situation in the state, and assured her of central assistance. The CM, during the conversation, complained to the PM that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) allegedly released water from its dams in an unplanned manner, thus causing a ''man-made'' flood situation in the state, a senior government official said.

Banerjee had to call off her aerial survey of all flood-hit areas in the state following heavy showers in the southern part of the state. She, however, took the road to Howrah, and spoke to people who have been displaced by the flood.

Meanwhile, state irrigation minister Soumen Mahapatra wrote to DVC authorities urging them not to release water in the next three days to help the state fight the situation here. He expressed apprehension that DVC authorities “may not pay heed to his request”.

''I have written to the DVC asking them not to release water in the next three days. This may help in improving the situation here. I have also requested the corporation to discharge water in a controlled manner when they do so,'' Mahapatra told PTI.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)