Upping the ante against the Union government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday (September 22, 2024) wrote another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the flood situation in the State, pointing out that all critical decisions to release water were made unilaterally by the representatives of the Central Water Commission (CWC) without arriving at a consensus.
This is the second letter by the Chief Minister to the Prime Minister in a span of two days, blaming the release of water from the reservoirs controlled by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for inundation of large areas in south Bengal. Ms. Banerjee in her letter dated September 20 said that her government will sever all association with the DVC if the situation continues to remain the same. According to the Chief Minister, the DVC has released about five million cusecs of water and she claimed that five million people in the State were affected by the floods.
Responding to the allegations of the Chief Minister, Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil had said the State government officials were informed at every stage about the release of water from the DVC reservoirs, which was essential to prevent a major disaster.
“All critical decisions are made unilaterally by representatives of the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, without arriving at a consensus. Sometimes, water releases take place even without any notice to the State Government and the requests and views of the Government of West Bengal (GoWB) are not honoured,” Ms. Banerjee said in her communication to the Prime Minister.
She also added that the peak releases from the reservoirs lasting for a prolonged period of 9 hours, were conducted with only 3.5 hours’ notice, which proved insufficient for effective disaster management.
Protesting against “unprecedented and uncontrolled” release of water by DVC State’s Power Secretary Santanu Basu has tendered his resignation as a member of the DVC. Chief Engineer of Irrigation and Waterways Directorate of Government of West Bengal also tendered his resignation as a member of the DVC.
In her communication to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister referred to the Ghatal Master Plan in Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur districts, and the flood management scheme for Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda were approved with investment clearance of ₹1,238.95 crore and ₹496.70 crore, between June 2022 and April 2024.
The Chief Minister added that these schemes are still pending inclusion under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP) and added that the delays in receiving central assistance and the prolonged appraisal process are undermining the urgency of addressing flood management in a scientific, and comprehensive manner.
Meanwhile, Ghatal MP and actor-turned-politician Dipak Adhikari visited flood affected areas in his constituency. Speaking to mediapersons, the Trinamool Congress MP said that the Ghatal Master Plan cannot be completed in a span of three months. Mr. Adhikari had promised his electorate that he will ensure that the Ghatal Master plan will be completed once he is elected to the Lok Sabha.
Leader of the Opposition in State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari raised questions on the resignation of the West Bengal officials and said that if the DVC did not pay heed to their objection regarding the unilateral decision of releasing water or without informing the West Bengal government, then why didn’t they quit earlier.
“This is just hogwash and a face-saving measure so that Mamata Banerjee can save her public image after failing to protect the People of WB from floods due to non-maintenance by the Irrigation and Waterways Dept because the bankrupt W.B, Govt. could not allocate any funds,” Mr. Adhikari said. .
Published - September 22, 2024 05:49 pm IST
