West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been critical of the central government over the flood situation in the state as she alleges that the release of water from the dams managed by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) without consulting the state is the main cause of inundation.
Banerjee has already written two letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling the flood a “man-made” crisis.
On Tuesday, she went a step further calling the DVC an organisation that kills people. Banerjee, who is on an official visit to Birbhum, one of the flood-affected districts, asserted that she does not want such an organisation and urged the Centre to shift its headquarters from the state.
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"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,” she said.
Noting that 28 people have so far lost their lives in the floods, Banerjee held the central government responsible for releasing water from the dams controlled by the DVC which functions under the Union Ministry of Power.
“We do not want an organisation that releases water and kills people. DVC was set up to protect people from floods," she said.
The chief minister has been visiting the flood-affected districts over the last two days and claiming that the floods were “man-made”, resulting from the unnecessary release of water by the DVC from its dams.
>> ‘W&B govt not consulted on water release by DVC’: Mamata reiterates in her fresh letter to Modi
The Union Power Ministry, however, has denied the allegations and maintained that all norms have been followed while releasing water from the DVC dams.
The water release from DVC dams have led to the flooding of more than 1,000 square kilometres across Purba Bardhaman, Birbhum, Howrah, Hooghly, Purba Medinipur, and Paschim Medinipur districts, impacting over 5 million people.
“The DVC is under the central government. But people's houses are submerged because the Centre is not doing anything. If I had received even a fraction of the money that’s spent on elections, I could have managed to stop the floods,” Banerjee had said during a press conference on Monday.
The chief minister had threatened last week to sever all ties with the DVC. On Sunday, two officials from the West Bengal government resigned from the Board of the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC).