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News Desk: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in preventing “man-made floods” in the state.
“I seek your kind immediate intervention so that the concerned ministry of Union government is requested to engage with the governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand and the authorities of the Damodar Valley Corporation to help to arrive at a permanent solution to this problem of our state occurring year after year” Banerjee wrote to Modi on Tuesday.
Around 2.2 million people were affected while 400,000 were evacuated when floods hit West Bengal’s eight districts last week. This was the second flood to hit West Bengal since July-August.
Banerjee called both the floods man-made and blamed the corporation, a central governmental agency operating power stations in Jharkhand and West Bengal for the floods. She alleged that water was discharged after midnight from the Panchet and Maithon dams and the Sikatiya barrage without informing West Bengal.
The DVC has said a representative of the state government is in the committee which decides when and how much water would be released from the dams it operates. It insisted the information was passed on to both the state government and the district authorities.
Banerjee has written earlier as well to Modi over the recurring floods in West Bengal triggered by heavy rain and subsequent discharge of water from dams.
“I am sorry to say that my earlier letter to you has not yet been responded to by the Union government. The issues that I raised affect millions of lives, and I request that the Centre should get into some serious actions without further delay” Banerjee wrote on Tuesday.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh said the state government has been lying. “The state government has a representative in the DVC committee which decides on the water release. What was he doing then? If he cannot perform, discharge him” said Ghosh.
Banerjee also attacked the DVC for not dredging its reservoirs, which could increase their water holding capacity.
