Mamata Banerjee appeals to Prime Minister Modi to take urgent action against severe flood crisis in South Bengal

Calcutta (West Bengal) [India]September 20 (ANI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawing attention to severe floods in south Bengal. The floods affected districts like Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur.

In her letter, Banerjee wrote: “As a result of unprecedented, unplanned and unilateral release of a huge volume of water of nearly 500,000 cubic feet per second from the combined system of Maithon-Panchet dams owned and maintained by DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation), all the districts of South Bengal… were hit by devastating floods, causing great suffering to the common people.” This massive release of water caused what she described as “the largest flood in the adjoining areas around the lower reaches of Damoda after 2009,” affecting over 1,000 square kilometers and nearly 5 million people.

The Chief Minister stressed that the floods have caused significant crop losses, damage to public infrastructure and destruction of homes and livestock. She added that the state government is working hard to provide relief and evacuation operations are currently underway to move people to safer accommodation.

Banerjee had visited the flood-affected areas and said she witnessed the “utter misery of hundreds of thousands of our people and unprecedented destruction of property and infrastructure”. She attributed the floods to “unplanned and uncoordinated release of water by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) system” and termed it a “man-made flood” caused by negligence.

The letter expressed concern that the DVC had failed to meet the state government’s demands regarding the rising water levels. According to Banerjee, despite warnings about the critical condition of the rivers downstream, the DVC increased the water release from 90,000 cubic feet per second to 250,000 cubic feet per second within a few hours, aggravating the flood situation.

Banerjee demanded better management of the dams and stated that the suffering of the people could have been reduced through “well-planned and calibrated dam management practices”. In her letter, she wrote that the combined storage capacity of Maithon and Panchet reservoirs for live water and flood water has fallen by 30 per cent due to siltation and urged the government to take urgent action. Furthermore, she criticised the DVC for shifting its focus from flood control to power generation, which she said has harmed the interests of West Bengal. Banerjee also raised concerns over the lack of action on the Ghatal Master Plan, which has made the region vulnerable to floods.

In her letter, she also warned that the state may have to withdraw from the DVC altogether if the unilateral approach continues. “We cannot allow our people to be affected by this ongoing injustice year after year,” she added.

Banerjee then urged the Prime Minister to take their concerns seriously and urged the release of funds for flood relief measures to help the affected population. (ANI)