DVC’s water release a systematic attempt to trigger floods in Bengal, says Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), alleging a “conspiracy to flood Bengal” through excessive water discharge.

Terming the situation “deeply disturbing and shocking”, Banerjee said the centrally administered body is “becoming more and more anti-Bengal” with its actions.

She demanded an immediate halt to what she described as “indiscriminate water release”, warning of dire consequences if the practice continued unchecked. “The huge increase in water releases this year to flood Bengal is deeply disturbing and shocking. I detect deep conspiracy in this,” Banerjee wrote in her X handle.

She maintained that DVC’s flood mismanagement record this year has surpassed its own dismal accounts of previous years. “DVC has failed Bengal this year to an unprecedented degree. Clearly, the centrally administered agency is becoming more and more anti-Bengal, in keeping with the eco-system that the central establishment is trying to generate all over India today,” she posted on X. The Chief Minister further termed the huge water release as a ‘systematic attempt to trigger more and more flood-like situations across South Bengal’.

“This is not a natural disaster. It’s a man-made catastrophe, more and more,” she wrote. According to Banerjee, DVC’s water discharge in 2025 has surged 11 times compared to 2024, and an alarming 30 times higher than in 2023.

Banerjee provided data to substantiate her tirade against DVC. 

According to her, the outflow from DVC during June & July 2024 was 4,535 lakh cubic meters, which has risen to 50,287 lakh cubic meters during June & July 2025.

“This massive, sudden, unprecedentedly high release during peak monsoon this year has devastated our districts, destroying huge crops, breaching large number of embankments, damaging numerous roads, and forcing thousands to evacuate,” Banerjee wrote.

Ghatal in West Midnapore has been one of the worst-affected, due to continuous rainfall and alleged indiscriminate release of water from DVC. Arambag in Hooghly and parts of Bankura have also witnessed inundation.

Banerjee may also visit Arambag in Hooghly.

As many as 8 panchayats in Ghatal, 2 under Daspur and 12 wards under Ghatal Municipality, have been affected.