West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee penned another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, accusing the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) of causing unprecedented flooding in the southern parts of West Bengal by releasing water without consultation. She stated that the DVC discharged water from its reservoirs without consulting her government, leading to severe flooding in several districts.
In response to Mamata Banerjee's earlier letter, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, CR Patil, had stated that the state authorities were informed at every stage about the release of water from DVC reservoirs. He also mentioned that the release was necessary to prevent a major disaster. However, in her second letter, Mamata Banerjee refuted the claims of the Union Jal Shakti Minister.
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Mamata Banerjee wrote, 'The Union Jal Shakti Minister claims that the decision to release water from DVC reservoirs was unanimous and taken in consultation with representatives from the West Bengal government as part of the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee. However, I disagree with this claim. All important decisions are taken unilaterally without the consensus of the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, and Government of India's representatives.'
In her letter, Mamata Banerjee further alleged that water is sometimes released without any notice, and her government's views are not respected. In her previous letter, she wrote, 'A maximum amount of water was released from DVC reservoirs for nine hours, and we were informed only 3.5 hours in advance. How can effective disaster management be carried out in such a short time?' She had also warned about pulling out of the DVC agreement in her earlier letter.
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In her letter to PM Modi on September 20, Mamata Banerjee claimed that 5 million people in the state were affected by the floods. She urged the central government to approve and release funds immediately to mitigate the widespread devastation. Union Minister CR Patil had responded to Mamata Banerjee's letter, clarifying that the decision to release water was taken by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), comprising representatives from the Central Water Commission, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and DVC. Patil also highlighted that due to the heavy rains from September 14 to 17, there was a 50% reduction in the amount of water released from the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs based on requests from Bengal officials.
