Massanjore (Dumka), Sept. 23: The West Bengal government has blamed Jharkhand officials manning the Massanjore dam built across river Mayurakshi for this month?s devastating floods in Birbhum district.

The irrigation secretary of West Bengal, in a letter to the secretary, Union ministry of central water resources, New Delhi, said the officials on the Bengal side were forced to open 17 sluice gates of the dam, resulting in the floods.

?The gross violation by Jharkhand officials was reportedly done just to save Dumka and adjourning areas. Their acts caused irreparable loss to property in Birbhum,? the letter read. The senior official has asked for the immediate intervention of Centre. Officials of the Dumka administration have refuted the allegations.

Subdivisional officer, Dumka, Manish Ranjan said the authorities on the Bengal side were told to open the gates because the water level had crossed the danger mark on September 17. If the gates were not opened, he said, a repeat of the devastating floods of 1999 and 2000 in Dumka would have been imminent. Deputy commissioner, Dumka, Jai Shanker Tiwary also justified the move in the greater interest of the district. The water released from Sikatiya barrage, across river Ajoy, into Jamtara district after heavy rains for more than five days had upped the threat perception, he said. ?The people of Dumka have been facing recurring floods. We had no option but to act,? he said.

Ranjan argued the decision was in accordance with the original agreement between united Bihar and West Bengal. Both in 1999 and 2000, when floods wreaked havoc in Santhal Pargana, Bengal officials had refused to open the gates and release excess water, resulting in grievous damage to life and property.

Goutam Chatterjee, a social activist of Raneshwar, endorsed Ranjan?s officials. He commended Jharkhand officials had refused to cower to pressure from the other side. For the first time, the subdivisional officer had taken the original documents and asked the dam authorities to open the gates, he said.

Seventeen gates were opened when the water level crossed 386 ft and again rose by more than 6 ft in half-an-hour due to the heavy downpour, Chatterjee said. According to the original agreement between the two states, the gates of the dam would be opened if the water crosses 363 ft ? the danger mark. But in the earlier years, the water was not released even after it breached the 400 ft-mark, he said.

Residents of tribal-dominated areas such as Dumka, Asanbani, Ranibahal, Raneshwar, Massaliya have welcomed the recent step of the district administration to release water from the dam.

Executive engineer of Mayurakshi headquarter division, Suri, however, held the Dumka administration responsible for the floods.

?The prompt action has averted a rerun of the 1999 floods. For the first time in the district, officials compelled the West Bengal side to stick to the norms of the agreement,? Shapan Hembrom of Massanjore said.

Built in 1956 with the help of Canadian government as part of the Damodar valley project, the Massanjore dam is considered by local residents as the root of the perennial flood problem.

More than 5.36 lakh residents of three blocks, Dumka, Massanjore and Massaliya, were displaced when the dam was built. Most are yet to get any compensation as they struggle against recurring floods and the resulting ecological imbalance.