Mamata Banerjee Blames DVC For Floods In West Bengal; Corporation Denies Charge

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to PM Modi that desilting and dredging activities were not taken up and water-holding capacity of the DVC's dams was not increased, though the issues were raised way back in 2015.

Faced with criticism that water released from its dams in an "unprecedented" manner led to the flooding of West Bengal, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on Wednesday said that it discharges water after taking consent of the state government and blaming it for the deluge is not justified. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that desilting and dredging activities were not taken up and water-holding capacity of the DVC''s dams was not increased, though the issues were raised way back in 2015. The DVC said it does not decide about water regulation and decisions on this are taken by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) where the state's irrigation secretary is a member. "The DVC only implements the decision of the committee on water regulations. The state government's consent is taken before the discharge of water and the DVC issues warning to district administrations. So blaming DVC for the flood is unjustified," DVC executive director (Maithon) S Banerjee told PTI.