Bengal floods: Mamata writes to Modi, threatens to sever ties with Damodar Valley Corpn

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that her state would sever all ties with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for "unilaterally releasing water", which led to floods in south Bengal districts.

In a four-page letter to Modi, she claimed that five million people in Bengal have been affected by the floods, and urged him to immediately sanction and release central funds to address the widespread devastation caused by the deluge.

Sharply retorting to her remarks, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari “challenged” the chief minister to execute her ultimatum by the end of the day and warned that if Banerjee severed ties with the DVC, several districts in southern Bengal would plunge into darkness.

"I would like to draw your kind attention to the fact that as a result of an unprecedented, unplanned, and unilateral release of an enormously huge volume of water at nearly five lakh cusec from the combined system of Maithon and Panchet dams owned and maintained by the DVC, all districts of South Bengal have been plunged into devastating floods, causing severe miseries to the common people," Banerjee wrote.

"If this unilateral approach continues, bringing hardship to the people of my state, we will be left with no option but to disengage entirely from DVC and withdraw our participation. We cannot allow this ongoing injustice to affect our people year after year," she asserted.

The flood-hit South Bengal districts include Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur, she said.

In his response, Adhikari said: “Is the CM even aware that DVC powers seven-eight districts in southern and western parts of the state? She hasn’t been able to build facilities to generate one additional unit of power in her tenure; she depends on the DVC for power and now wants to snap ties with it? I challenge her to execute her threat and plunge eight districts in darkness.”

Taking to X, the BJP leader later said, “The cumulative power generation capacity of the DVC in West Bengal is 4,306 MW; a staggering 69 per cent of 6,687 MW, which is the total power generation capacity of the DVC… A large number of workers are associated as government/private employees in organised & unorganised sectors in the 8 hydro, thermal and solar plants of DVC located in West Bengal.”

Lambasting the CM for “talking like a prime minister who seems to consider West Bengal a separate nation”, Adhikari further wrote, “Does Mamata Banerjee feel that West Bengal is a separate country? How can she even utter these words? How does she plan to generate/substitute the 4,300 MW shortage if she snaps ties with DVC? Or is she planning to take Bengal back to the dark ages?”

Banerjee, on her part, elucidated the expanse of the devastation caused by the floods, calling it “man-made”.

"The state is now facing the biggest flood in Lower Damodar and adjoining areas after 2009. More than 1,000 sq km stands affected and nearly five million people of the state have been drawn into the vortex of miseries for loss of crops, damages to public infrastructure and private assets, including houses, cattle... I am compelled to call it a man-made flood," she said in her letter to the PM.

The chief minister said information about the critical condition of downstream rivers, already flowing close to or above the extreme danger level, was provided to the DVC authorities by the state’s officials along with the request to defer the release of water that is made from time to time.

"I also spoke with the DVC chairman over the phone on September 16 night," she said.

"Combined water release was increased in quick successions on September 17 from 90,000 cusecs to abruptly 2,50,000 cusecs within nine hours, which continued for long hours," Banerjee said.

The total discharge during the short period of three days is equivalent to 8.31 lakh acre-feet up to the last available report on date, she claimed.

Banerjee also stressed the "need for dredging and desilting the DVC reservoirs to restore their floodwater holding capacity".

"The need for dredging has been highlighted to you and in other forums, including the Eastern Zonal Council, numerous times over the past 10 years. However, actions from the Government of India and the DVC have so far been limited to studies, investigations and half-hearted attempts to formulate projects," she wrote.

She also referred to a delegation of TMC MPs and ministers raising the matter with the Union Jal Shakti minister.

"I flagged this issue during the NITI Aayog meeting. Unfortunately, no visible action has been taken on the ground," the CM said, referring to reports that indicate that siltation has already reduced the combined live and flood water storage capacity of these two reservoirs by 30 per cent.

"I believe the situation has further worsened. It is also concerning that DVC appears to have shifted focus from its primary objective of flood control in the Damodar River, as mandated by law, to power generation, disregarding its social obligations. This shift has sacrificed the interests of the downstream of West Bengal," she added.

Moreover, she alleged, despite repeatedly raising the Ghatal Master Plan issue with the Centre, including the submission of detailed technical papers, “no concrete steps" were taken.