Facing heat from the Opposition over floods in south Bengal, Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took aim at the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), which operates dams in West Bengal and Jharkhand, and the Centre. The West Bengal Chief Minister alleged there was a “planned strategy” to flood Bengal and threatened to snap ties with the DVC, which is headquartered in Kolkata. Late on Thursday, West Bengal also barred commercial vehicles from plying to and from Jharkhand, stopping them at the Duburdih border checkpost, citing the floods.
“It is a planned flood. We repeatedly told the DVC not to release water but they continue to do it. Even on Thursday morning, they released water and new areas got inundated. In this situation, we have to think about cutting off all communications with DVC. We will protest against it,” Banerjee said after visiting.
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On Wednesday, after touring flooded areas in Hooghly district, Banerjee said she had called Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren thrice to discuss the matter. ”I spoke with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. I also spoke with DVC and requested them not to discharge water (to Bengal). If they want to release water, they should give intimation. They can also discharge water slowly. But instead, they discharged 3.5 cusecs of water without informing us, which is unprecedented. To save their state (Jharkhand), they planned to flood Bengal,” Banerjee alleged.
Responding to the West Bengal CM, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry on Thursday said the DVC followed the “protocols” while intimating the West Bengal government about the scheduled release of water. “DVC operates four dams viz. Maithon, Panchet, Tillaiya and Konar. Final releases are from Maithon and Panchet. All releases are as advised by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) which has representatives from Govt. of West Bengal, Govt. of Jharkhand, Central Water Commission (Member Secretary), and from DVC,” read the statement.
The ministry clarified that the Tenughat dam that the Jharkhand government operates and is outside the control of DVC made a huge release of 85,000 cusecs, adding to the problem. “The Jharkhand government has refused to bring this dam within the ambit of the DVRRC,” the statement said.
An official in the Jharkhand Water Resource Department said the state administration had no role to play in the release of water to West Bengal. “A committee led by DVC officials decides when to open the gates, the Jharkhand government has no role to play in it. There is a unified decision.”
Asked about Banerjee’s claim that she had thrice called Soren, government sources said they had yet to receive any official communication from West Bengal.
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The situation has caused Banerjee to receive flak from her opponents. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said Banerjee always attempts to deflect blame by alleging these were “man-made floods”. He alleged the West Bengal government was to blame since it never took steps before the Monsoon to strengthen the infrastructure “to tackle the annual problem”.
He added, “As far as I remember, the World Bank approved a Rs 5,000 crore loan to WB Govt to build and operate new irrigation structures such as flood walls, river embankment armouring, desilting the adjoining rivers, creating small-scale storage structures, creek rehabilitation, digging canals etc to manage the flood situation in the Lower Damodar Basin area. 75% of the funds have been drawn. What is the result?”
A CPI(M) leader said Banerjee’s blame game was part of a strategy to deflect attention from the issues raised by the protesting doctors. “It is true that floods have heavily affected four to five districts. That doesn’t mean the CM has to rush to these areas with a huge convoy in tow and disturb the rescue and relief operations,” he said.
Flooding in the Lower Damodar Basin area is an almost perennial problem for West Bengal. This is not the first time that the West Bengal CM has pointed fingers at the Centre and the DVC. In 2013, after parts of south Bengal got inundated, Banerjee said, “This is a man-made flood. The villages were inundated after Jharkhand government released water from Galudi, Panchet, and other dams … Had this been done in a phased manner and with prior intimation, this situation would not have happened … DVC released water without consulting the Bengal government. This is sheer negligence on their part and we consider it a crime.”
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After flooding in the region in 2019, Banerjee again blamed the DVC and after flooding again in 2021, wrote to Modi wrote to Modi describing the floods as “man-made” and blaming the DVC. She sought the PM’s intervention in drafting a plan to upgrade the dams in the region. The DVC at the time denied the CM’s allegations and said it discharges water after obtaining the state government’s consent.
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