Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has shot off a second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him that the West Bengal Government is immediately withdrawing from the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) in protest against “the lack of cooperation regarding flood moderation”.
Banerjee disagreed with Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil’s claim that water from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was released after a consensus in the committee, where the state government has a representative. The claim was made on September 20 after Banerjee, in her first letter, accused the DVC of unilaterally discharging water, causing floods in South Bengal.
“I am informed that Maithon and Panchet reservoir are being operated by a Committee, namely ‘Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee’ (DVRRC), which is chaired by Central Water Commission, and includes representation of Chief Engineers of Government of West Bengal, Government of Jharkhand & DVC. Further, the operations and regulation is done generally through consensus by this Committee, in line with the laid down norms and guide curves,” Paatil wrote in reply to Banerjee’s first letter.
In her September 21 letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, the chief minister wrote, “I am writing in response to the letter dated 20.09.2024 from Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, Government of India, in response to earlier letter…dated 20.09.2024 addressed to concerning the unprecedented flooding in South Bengal caused by abnormally heavy releases of water from the DVC reservoirs in Jharkhand. While the Hon’ble Minister claims that the release from DVC was carried out by consensus and collaboration with the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRR), including consultation with representatives of the Government of West Bengal, I may respectfully disagree.”
“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, views of the Government of West Bengal (GoWB) are not honoured. Moreover, peak releases from the reservoirs lasting for a prolonged period of 9 hours, were conducted with only 3.5 hours’ notice, which is insufficient for effective disaster management,” Banerjee’s letter read.
“Thus, I believe the Union Minister’s statement that all efforts were made to minimize flooding is not entirely accurate. It appears the dam managers failed to properly assess inflows and adjust outflows in advance of the flood. Furthermore, I have been informed that there are ongoing maintenance issues at DVC dams,” the letter further stated.
“As a protest against this apparent disregard for West Bengal’s concerns and the lack of cooperation regarding flood moderation, my g o v e r n m e n t is withdrawing its representation from the DVRRC (Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee), immediately,” Banerjee wrote.
The chief minister also wrote that “the implementation of comprehensive flood management schemes in critical river basins is urgently needed to prevent future flooding”. “It is not feasible for West Bengal alone to bear the entire cost of these projects,” she added.
“Two major schemes, the Ghatal Master Plan (covering Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur districts) and the Flood Management Scheme for Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, and Malda, have been approved with investment clearances of Rs 1238.95 crore and Rs 496.70 crore, respectively, between June 2022 and April 2024. However, these schemes are still pending inclusion under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP),” she wrote to the prime minister.
“In addition, financial sanctions from the Ministry of Finance for an erosion protection scheme in Lalgola block, Murshidabad, aimed at protecting the nearby villages along the Ganga-Padma River, are still awaited…” Banerjee further wrote.
“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 added.
On Saturday, Power Secretary Santanu Basu resigned from the board of the DVC. Also, Uttam Roy, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Waterways, quit the DVRRC.
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