West Bengal govt not consulted on water release by DVC, says Mamata Banerjee; writes to PM Modi

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the state's flood situation, claiming that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released water from its reservoirs without consulting her government, alarming several districts of West Bengal, PTI reported.

Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil responded to Banerjee's earlier letter saying that the state's officials were informed about releasing water from reservoirs at every stage, which was required to prevent a major disaster.

According to PTI, Banerjee said, "While the Hon'ble minister claims that the release from DVC dams was carried out by consensus and collaboration with the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee, including consultations with representatives of the government of West Bengal, I may respectfully disagree."

"All the critical decisions are made unilaterally by representatives of the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India without arriving at a consensus," she said.

Banerjee claimed that sometimes water from DVC reservoirs is released without informing the state government, adding that her government's views are not respected.

"Moreover peak release from the reservoirs lasting for a prolonged period of nine hours were conducted with only 3.5 hours notice which proved insufficient for effective disaster management," she said in the letter dated September 21, which was made public on Sunday, PTI reported.

In her letter to Modi on September 20, she stated that 5 million people in the state were impacted by the floods, and urged him to address the widespread devastation by immediately sanctioning and releasing central funds.

As per PTI, Paatil in his letter, addressed the chief minister's concerns about the flooding brought on by the DVC reservoirs' water release.

He said that the releases were overseen by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), which includes representatives from the Central Water Commission, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and the DVC.

In response to heavy rains, Paatil confirmed that from September 14 to 17, water delivery from the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs was reduced by 50 percent at the request of West Bengal officials.

(With inputs from PTI)