Continuing her attack on the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and the Centre over the flood situation in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for 28 people who died in the floods in southern districts.
The chief minister said the Centre could shift the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) headquarters from Kolkata and asserted that she does not want an organisation, which releases water in the state leading to the death of people, to stay here.
“The northern part of West Bengal gets flooded because Nepal and Bhutan release water. Here, the DVC has become corporate — they only sell electricity… DVC has no other work, they only release water… and kill human beings,” the chief minister said as she once again blamed it for the flood situation in the state.
Speaking at an administrative meeting in Bankura, one of the several districts facing large-scale inundation, the chief minister said: “Let them (Centre) take it (DVC) away. I do not care. They have removed everything from Kolkata and there is nothing left. They keep a building (DVC headquarters) in Kolkata, but will not listen to Kolkata and keep on releasing water inundating Bengal and killing people.”
“DVC was set up to protect people from floods. The capacity (of DVC dams) has come down to the level of roads… Dredging has not taken place for the last 20 years,” she said.
“DVC is under the central government. But as of today, millions of people’s houses are sinking due to a lack of action. Even a fraction of the money spent on votes could have prevented the flood,” Banerjee said targeting the BJP.
On Sunday, two officials from the West Bengal government — Power Secretary Santanu Basu and Chief Engineer Uttam Roy — resigned from the Board of the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC).
Banerjee recently sent two back-to-back letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging his intervention in the flood situation and release of funds. She has been claiming that the floods were primarily man-made, resulting from the unnecessary release of water by the DVC from its dams.
The union power ministry said that all norms were followed while releasing water from the DVC dams, denying accusations by the CM that the water discharge was responsible for flooding in the state.
On Sunday, two officials from the West Bengal government resigned from the Board of the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC).
The state government has claimed that the floods have affected districts of Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, and Purba and Paschim Medinipur.
Established in 1948, the DVC is an integrated power major spread across a command area of 24,235 sq km in West Bengal and Jharkhand.
With PTI Inputs
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