Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday gave a one-year ultimatum to the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to take up de-siltation of its reservoir, while reiterating her proposal to construct a dam in front of DVC’s to prevent flooding in South Bengal districts.
“DVC has not carried out dredging in the last 20 years, which has significantly reduced its water-holding capacity. It was originally meant to hold 4 lakh cubic metres of water, but now it holds much less. During the monsoon, in order to prevent submergence in Jharkhand, they are releasing water too quickly into Bengal, causing flood-like situations here.
We are spending a huge amount of money every year on relief and rehabilitation,” Banerjee said, addressing an administrative meeting in Bolpur, Birbhum.
She said the state government was working on a plan to construct a dam in front of the DVC’s to prevent flooding in Bengal. “Enough is enough.
If they do not carry out de-siltation within a year, we will build a dam that will channel the water back to Jharkhand. Then they will understand the suffering our people go through year after year,” she said.
The Chief Minister directed the state administration to begin planning for such a dam and wait for her go-ahead to proceed further. Heavy rainfall, coupled with the alleged indiscriminate release of water from the DVC, has caused flood-like conditions in areas including Ghatal in West Midnapore, Khanakul and Goghat in Hooghly and parts of Bankura and Jhargram.
During the meeting, Banerjee, who is also the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress, raised concerns over the recent killings of two party workers. “Within a few days, two of our party workers were murdered. Why were there no intelligence inputs? Was it not the IC’s responsibility to have had some prior information? I believe he should have,” she said.
She also advised the police and district administration officials to increase field visits to boost vigilance in the district.