Even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) yet again on Saturday for the prevailing flood situation in the state, the corporation said water released from DVC dams was as per advice of the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee, and members in the rank of chief engineers from state governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand were part of the panel.
In an official statement, the DVC noted that flood warning message were communicated “well in advance” of the release of water to chief engineers of West Bengal government, district magistrates of Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia, Bankura and the superintending engineer and executive engineer in Durgapur.
In Ranchi, Nagesh Mishra, chief engineer (monitoring cell), Water Resource Department, said that the Jharkhand government has no role to play in release of water from dams to West Bengal. He said: “A committee led by DVC officials decides when to open the gates, but Jharkhand government has no role to play.”
Sources in Jharkhand government said they are yet to receive any official communication from the Bengal government.
In Kolkata on Saturday, Banerjee urged the Centre to come up with a concrete plan to prevent such flooding in the state’s western reaches in future. Following an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions, Banerjee said she would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter. She said she would also request the Jharkhand government to draw up flood mitigation plan for both states.
Addressing the media, she criticised DVC and claimed that it had committed a ‘crime’ by releasing water into the state without prior consultations with her government.
“While we were busy with bypolls on September 30, they (DVC) had released several lakh cusecs of water by midnight. Till October 1, the DVC had released almost 10 lakh cusecs of water,” the CM alleged.
With inputs from ENS RANCHI