DVC continues water release: 70K cusecs discharged on Sat

Kolkata: Water release from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) continued on Saturday morning, with 70,000 cusecs discharged. Over the past two days (Thursday and Friday), the DVC had released a total of 1,50,000 cusecs. “The Centre, along with the DVC, has a deliberate ploy to unleash disaster on us in order to inflict pain on millions when they are still busy in the pujas. Our department has already alerted the district administration right up to the Panchayat ground level in the backdrop of such water release. Control rooms have been made operational and we are closely monitoring the situation,” said state Irrigation and Waterways minister Manas Bhunia. The minister alleged that several communications, right from the Chief Minister to the department top brass, has been made with the DVC authorities to release water in a coordinated manner after due consultation with the state government, but they have not been paying heed. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in a social media post on Friday, accused the DVC of deliberately creating a flood-like situation in South Bengal districts during festivals, describing the release of water as “reckless” and “shameful”, saying it had put “millions of lives in Bengal in immediate peril”.

Banerjee said the people of West Bengal were not allowed to conclude their festival in peace. “Bijoya Dashami marks the close of Durga Puja — a time for joy, cheer and renewed hope. This reckless act is nothing short of an attempt to inflict misery during our sacred festivities. Such unilateral action is shameful and absolutely unacceptable. By releasing water without intimation, the DVC has placed millions of lives in Bengal in immediate peril,” she said. A senior official in the Irrigation department said that presently the situation is under control and all measures have been taken to tackle any inundation due to water release.