Minister leads protest against DVC at Panchet office
The Statesman | 11 October 2025A few days earlier, the TMC leadership, led by law and labour minister Moloy Ghatak, had organised an agitation at the Maithon Dam office of DVC in Jharkhand and later submitted a memorandum to executive director Suman Kumar Singh.
Today, hundreds of TMC supporters from West Burdwan and Purulia districts gathered at Panchet Dam and launched a fresh protest. The agitation was led by minister Moloy Ghatak, who also addressed the gathering. Jamuria MLA Hareram Singh, Asansol deputy mayor Wasimul Haque, and MMiC Rocket Chatterjee were among those present.
“Our chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has repeatedly urged the management of Damodar Valley Corporation to regulate water releases from its dams and barrages over the past few years. However, the DVC authority continues to ignore her appeals. Due to these massive discharges, the lower basin districts of the Damodar in South Bengal face floods during every festive season. We have now launched this agitation on her instructions, and if the situation does not improve, we will intensify our protest,” said Moloy Ghatak.
He also submitted a memorandum to the senior officials of DVC at Panchet. “The DVC authorities informed me today that only about 4,000 cusecs of water were released yesterday. But where is the guarantee that tomorrow another 50,000 cusecs will not be released from the dam?” he questioned.
On 7 October, the Trinamul Congress held a protest at the Maithon office of DVC. On that day, 60,000 cusecs of water were reportedly released, inundating five villages in Khanakul, Hooghly district, a day later.
Mr Ghatak reiterated that the DVC should release water from its dams only after proper consultation with the West Bengal government and with sufficient notice, allowing time for people in low-lying areas to be evacuated before disaster strikes. The TMC government has also urged the jal shakti minister to undertake desiltation of the DVC dams and barrages to increase their water storage capacity.
On Thursday, the DVC released 15,000 cusecs of water from its Maithon and Panchet dams, as rainfall had decreased in the upper catchment areas of the Damodar.
According to DVC sources, desiltation is rarely undertaken in Indian dams due to its high cost, which leads to a gradual decline in their storage capacity. The only long-term solution, they said, is to construct new dams to manage floods. DVC is planning to set up the Belpahari Dam, and the detailed project report will be prepared soon, the sources added.
The Panchet and Maithon Dams are among the oldest in the country, constructed during the tenure of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, following the guidelines of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) of the USA.
