Ranchi, July 25: Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) today released more water from its dams with the state government denying it was doing so without alerting neighbouring states as alleged by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Water resources minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary stressed that Jharkhand was compelled to release dam water because the water levels were increasing during the past few days. But, he denied they were acting without sounding alerts and informing the Bengal government.
"We are doing these out of severe compulsion. For example, as per agreed terms, the water level at Tenughat dam cannot exceed 840feet. The maximum storage capacity of this dam is 852feet. Today, we had 854feet water in this dam. We do not want to cause hardship to the people of Bengal. Mamatadi should understand this," the minister said, adding that of the 54 reservoirs in the state, nine of them were filled to capacity.
Today, Jharkhand released 2,350 cusec water from Maithon dam, 60,000 cusec from Panchet dam, 12,000 cusec from Konar dam and 26,000 cusec from Tenughat dam. Water from the Subernarekha river was also released from dams in Chandil and Galudih in East Singhbhum.
The incessant rain in the past three days led to water levels rising steadily at the state's reservoirs, including Maithon, Panchet, Tenughat, Konar and Patratu dams, all of which are under DVC's command.
"We released 1,900 cusec from Maithon dam yesterday. Today, we released 2,350 cusec. Three days back we had released only 500 cusec. It is an ongoing process," said DVC's public relations officer M Vijay Kumar.
He said decisions about dam water release were being taken by Damodar Valley River Regulatory Commission with senior officials from Jharkhand, Bengal and the Centre (DVC) as ex-officio members.
"Being a CPSU employee, I cannot comment on the Bengal chief minister's assertions. But, dam water is being released with the consent of all stake holders after sounding alerts," he said.
State water resources department engineer-in-chief R.S. Tigga said the Bengal government was being consulted before releasing water.
"There is a flood control committee having representatives from Bengal. Informing the local administration of Bengal areas that might be affected following the release of water and sounding alerts are mandatory on our part," he said.
