Kolkata, Sept 21: 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 āchallengedā 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.