CM Mamata withdraws 2 top state representatives from DVC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has escalated her protest against the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) over its handling of water releases from the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs. In her second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Banerjee expressed her frustration with the DVC and announced the withdrawal of the state’s representatives from the DVC board and committee. The move comes after the state endured severe flooding, which Banerjee blames on the “uncontrolled release” of water by DVC to protect neighboring Jharkhand at Bengal's expense.

Two top state officials, West Bengal Electricity Department Secretary Shantanu Basu and the Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Department, have resigned from their positions on the DVC board and committee as a form of protest. In his resignation letter to the DVC chairman, Basu stated, "The people of large parts of the state are suffering due to DVC’s unilateral water release decisions. This step is unprecedented, and I am resigning from the board as the representative of West Bengal.”

The heavy rainfall caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal last week led to rising water levels in the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs. As a result, vast areas of West Midnapore, Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, East and West Burdwan, and East Midnapore were inundated after the DVC released water. Mamata Banerjee, who personally inspected the flood situation, has repeatedly accused the DVC of worsening the flood crisis in West Bengal by prioritizing Jharkhand. She labeled the event a "man-made flood" and warned that the state would sever ties with DVC.

Union Water and Power Minister CR Paatil responded to Banerjee’s initial letter to the Prime Minister, stating that the DVC committee had consulted West Bengal’s representatives before releasing the water. However, Banerjee countered this claim in her latest letter, asserting that decisions were made without the state's consent. She also mentioned that during a conversation with the DVC chairman on September 16, she requested that water not be released, but her plea was ignored. Despite attempts to reduce the release to two lakh cusecs from the initial two and a half lakh cusecs, the request was not honored, which worsened the situation.

Banerjee also raised concerns over delayed communication from DVC and the ongoing renovation work at the Maithon and Panchet dams, which she claims further contributed to the mismanagement. In her letter, she highlighted the urgent need for proper flood control measures, stressing that the central government should bear the costs of these projects. She referred to two flood control plans, the Ghatal Master Plan and the North and South Dinajpur and Malda Flood Control Plan, both of which have already been approved.