Mamata Banerjee on Friday slammed the BJP-led Centre’s Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for releasing 1,50,000 cusecs of water allegedly without prior intimation to the Trinamool Congress-led Bengal government, accusing the central agency of deliberately causing a flood-like situation in south Bengal districts amid Bijoya Dashami celebrations.
In an X post, the chief minister labelled the DVC discharge as “reckless” and “shameful”, accusing it of having put millions of Bengal lives in immediate peril.
“The latest update on the unilateral and wilful release of water by DVC is that they have by the evening today released more than 150,000 cusecs of water from Maithon and Panchet dams etc to flood our West Bengal during festival times,” she wrote.
“This is a deliberate ploy to unleash disaster on us in order to inflict pains on millions when they are still busy in the Pujas. Shameful, intolerable, unacceptable! We protest!!” added the chief minister.
Earlier in the day, calling it “absolutely unacceptable”, the Trinamool chief alleged that the release amounted to a disaster “manufactured by the DVC” rather than a
natural calamity.
“Bijoya Dashami marks the close of Durga Puja — a time for joy, cheer and renewed hope. Yet instead of allowing the people of West Bengal to conclude the festival in peace, the DVC released... water without any prior notice to the State. This reckless act is nothing short of an attempt to inflict misery during our sacred festivities,” she wrote.
“Such unilateral action is shameful and absolutely unacceptable. *By releasing water without intimation, the DVC has placed millions of lives in Bengal in immediate peril. This is not a natural calamity, it is a disaster manufactured by the DVC,” added Mamata.
“Let me be clear: I will not allow anyone to carry out a Bisarjan of Bengal. Every conspiracy against our people will be resisted with full force. Truth will prevail over deceit and good will triumph over evil. Joy Maa Durga!”
State government sources said the discharge from the DVC’s Jharkhand reservoirs flowed into the Durgapur barrage and downstream, raising concerns of inundation in parts of Bankura, East Burdwan, Howrah and Hooghly.
Administration in the districts was alerted and asked to monitor vulnerable zones.
The DVC authorities issued an orange alert on Friday morning, mentioning that there was a warning for flood because of the discharge of water to the tune of 70,000 cusecs through Maithan and Panchet dams.
Contrary to what Mamata said, DVC sources claimed that the water had been released because of rainfall in the upper catchments of the Damodar river in Jharkhand, and necessary information had been shared with the Bengal government.
The chief minister repeatedly accuses the DVC of mismanagement of floodwaters since ascending to power in 2011, alleging a lack of dredging and poor coordination by the Centre with the state government.
Earlier this festive season, she had accused central utilities such as NTPC and DVC of having caused the flooding in Calcutta and its neighbourhood that claimed at least
11 lives.
North Bengal rain
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light to moderate rainfall in Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gangetic Bengal, sub-Himalayan Bengal and Sikkim, where the southwest monsoon has been active.
“Also, there might be heavy to very heavy rainfall (70mm to 200mm) in one or two isolated places in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar districts, and also in Sikkim during the next couple of days,” said a source.
