Even as the flood situation in Bengal worsened with large swathes of lands in Hooghly, Burdwan, Howrah, East and West Midnapore going under water following the release of lakhs of cusecs of water by the dams controlled by the Damodar Valley Corporation, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once again lambasted the Centre for “planning to inundate Bengal.”
Vowing to snap all the ties with the DVC of which Bengal too is a part Banerjee said, “this is a centrally controlled authority which does not listen to our prayers … instead of dredging the rivers they release waters and inundate Bengal every year … so I will go back and snap all the ties with the DVC if they continue to flood Bengal like this.”
Banerjee who visited parts of West Midnapore and the Pursura block of Hooghly district said she would go to Howrah to inspect the flood affected areas too.
“For years there is a talk of Ghatal Master Plan but that has not taken place as yet as a result of which the Ghatal town and the remaining areas sink every year … will this continue year after year,” she asked.
Banerjee alleged how North Bengal gets flooded when there is heavy rains in Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim alleging nothing is done in that respect. She also alleged that the Centre was not dredging
the Ganges at Farakka causing floods in lower regions of Malda and Murshidabad.
“Similar is the case here as in a bid to save Jharkhand they are inundating Bengal … it is good to save others but why should we bear brunt of that … why should Bengal be flooded … they have released more than 4 lakh cusecs of water … thousands of houses have been destroyed and thousands of acres of lands have been flooded with crops worth crores finished … who is responsible for this,” Banerjee said. “This is a man-made flood … we are facing this problem because of the irresponsible behavior of the Centre,” she said.
Reacting to the charges leveled by her Bengal BJP president and junior Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that instead of blaming the Centre Banerjee should send her local MPs to the appropriate ministers to sort out the issues.
