Mamata Banerjee writes to PM again on Bengal’s ‘man-made’ flood: Kindly intervene

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the flood situation in the state, stating that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released water from its reservoirs without consulting her government, resulting in inundation of several districts.
In her letter dated September 21, the Chief Minister expressed her disagreement with the central government’s handling of the situation. She claimed that the release of water from the DVC reservoirs was done unilaterally, without sufficient input from her government.
This response followed Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil’s reply to Banerjee’s earlier letter to PM Modi, where Paatil stated that the state’s officials were informed at every stage about the release of water from the DVC reservoirs, which was necessary to prevent a major disaster.
Responding to Paatil’s claims, Banerjee wrote, “While the 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.”
She added, “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.”
Banerjee also claimed that sometimes water is released without any notice to the state government and the views of her government are not honoured.
“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 light of these concerns, I reiterate the demands mentioned in my previous letter dated 20.09.2024 and I request your kind personal intervention to address these issues urgently,” she said.
Banerjee posted a copy of the letter on X on Sunday, saying, “This is my second letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India regarding the devastating MAN-MADE flood in South Bengal caused by unprecedented release of water by DVC.”
In her previous letter to PM Modi, dated September 20, the Chief Minister pointed out that the floods had affected five million people and urged the central government to release emergency funds to support recovery efforts.