“Be it DVC, Panchet, Maithon, none of them are listening to us. We have asked the Central government to do desilting and dredging work so they can hold an extra 4 lacs metric cusec water. But they don’t listen to us. They have released over 27,000 lacs cubic meters of water between June 18 to July 15,” she stated, highlighting the scale of the water release and its devastating impact on West Bengal’s river systems.
Banerjee emphasised that despite repeated appeals to the central government for a sustainable solution, including dredging downstream to manage excess water, no significant progress has been made. She noted that the state has taken proactive measures, such as constructing over five lakh ponds and 500 check dams under a World Bank project to mitigate flooding, but these efforts are undermined by the DVC’s actions. “They are doing this to save themselves without caring for the consequences our state is suffering on account of their actions. We have been fighting this menace for the last 14 years without any positive result. I have myself written letters to the Prime Minister, to the irrigation department; have discussed this during the NITI Aayog meeting, our teams have gone to Delhi but to no respite,” Banerjee added during the meeting.
The Chief Minister also drew a comparison with Assam, alleging discriminatory treatment by the Centre. “Assam gets flood relief money; we do not. They only release water here and then leave us to suffer,” she remarked, pointing to a perceived neglect of West Bengal’s flood management needs. Banerjee has directed district officials and police to evacuate residents from low-lying areas to safe shelters and has assured that the state’s disaster management team is working round-the-clock to provide relief.
The flooding, triggered by heavy monsoon rains and the DVC’s water releases, has disrupted normal life in Kolkata and other affected regions, with water logging reported in several urban and rural areas. Banerjee urged all political parties to unite in supporting the flood-affected population and announced that work on the Ghatal Master Plan, aimed at addressing chronic flooding in the region, has begun and is expected to be completed within two years.
The central government is yet to respond to Banerjee’s allegations, but the issue has sparked a broader debate about inter-state coordination and flood management policies. This isn’t the first time such allegations have been levelled against DVC. Previously too, their ‘unilateral’ release of water had irked Banerjee, so much so that state official from the entity was withdrawn as a mark of protest.
