Flood-like conditions prevail in at least seven districts of West Bengal. This is because the water released from the dams of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is suddenly increasing rapidly. Apart from this, heavy rains are also continuing. State government officials said that they are closely monitoring the situation. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has warned the District Magistrates to remain alert. She also alleged that DVC from the neighboring state Jharkhand is releasing water from the dam without informing her government. Mamata says that she has called the Jharkhand CM three times and requested him. At the same time, ten senior IAS officers have been assigned the task to bring the flood-like situation in the state under control.
According to DVC, 90 thousand cusecs of water was released from Panchet and Maithon dams at 11:30 pm on Monday night. By 6:54 am on Tuesday, the amount of water released increased to 2.1 lakh cusecs, which shows that there has been a lot of increase in it in just seven hours. DVC officials said that by 8:31 am, the amount of water increased by 40 thousand cusecs in just one and a half hours to 2.5 lakh cusecs. After the release of water, DVC issued a ‘red alert’. It said that the flow of water increased due to high flow of water from above.
Flood warning, alert in at least seven districts
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over the situation. She warned that there could be a flood-like situation in at least seven districts of West Bengal due to the release of water from dams in neighbouring Jharkhand. In a press conference, Banerjee alleged that the DVC was releasing water from the dam without informing her government. Banerjee said on Monday that due to heavy rains for the last two days, parts of Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, East Burdwan and North and South 24 Parganas districts are already flooded and rivers are in spate.
called Jharkhand CM thrice
Mamata Banerjee said, “I have called the Chief Minister of Jharkhand three times and urged him to control the water being released.” She said, “Some people are trapped in Hooghly after the water level rose rapidly and the administration has been instructed to launch a rescue operation.”
After two days of incessant rains in several districts of West Bengal, the deep depression has moved towards Jharkhand, triggering heavy rains in the neighbouring state. Heavy rains caused by the deep depression have inundated several low-lying areas in south West Bengal, officials said. The Silabati river in West Midnapore district is flowing above the danger mark, they said.
TMC took stock of the flood situation
Trinamool Congress MP and actor Deepak Adhikari took stock of the flood situation in Ghatal and Keshpur areas of West Midnapore district. Ghatal Sub-Divisional Officer Suman Biswas said that the administration has stored relief materials and has also made preparations to set up camps if needed. According to locals, farmers cultivating paddy and jute in Chandrakona Block-1 may suffer huge losses due to the rising water level.
