The Union Ministry of Power on September 19 clarified the decision to release excess water was not taken by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on its own.
The decisions regarding all water releases are taken by a committee, which has members from West Bengal and Jharkhand governments and other central and DVC officials.
The clarification came following West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim earlier in the day, throwing a ‘conspiracy’ charge at the Centre for failing to carry out dredging at the DVC dams, which released water that led to floods in several districts of the state.
The Bengal CM also threatened to sever all the ties with the corporation.
“All releases are as advised by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), which has representatives from Govt of W Bengal, Govt of Jharkhand, Central Water Commission (Member Secretary) and from DVC,” the ministry said in a post on X.
The ministry further said that the Tenughat Dam, which released 85,000 cusecs water exacerbating the flood, is operated by the Jharkhand government, and is not under the control of DVC.
Banerjee held the DVC should be held accountable for the "man-made" flood and suggested there was a conspiracy behind the situation in the state. DVC dams are located at Maithon and Panchet, both along the Jharkhand-Bengal border.
"This is not rainwater; it is water released by the central government organisation DVC from its dams. This is a man-made flood, and it's unfortunate. Why isn’t the central government dredging the DVC dams, where the water storage capacity has decreased by 36 percent. There is a larger conspiracy at play. This cannot continue and we will start a major movement against this," she added.
Banerjee claimed the DVC released 5.5 lakh cusecs of water this year, contributing to the current crisis.
"I will instruct the administration to ensure that everyone receives adequate relief materials," she added.
From Pashkura, Banerjee is scheduled to visit flooded areas in Hooghly and Howrah, according to government sources.
Since Wednesday, she has been touring various parts of the state affected by the floods.
(With PTI inputs)
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