Mamata requests Hemant to look into release of water from dams in Jharkhand

Kolkata, Aug 4 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that she spoke to her Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and requested him to look into the issue of release of water from dams in the neighbouring state.

Banerjee claimed that the release of water from Jharkhand was causing a man-man flood-like situation in West Bengal.

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), which operates several hydropower projects in Jharkhand and West Bengal, however, said that water discharge was expected to reduce due to a dip in rainfall. DVC also said it does not foresee any major flood threat downstream as of now.

“I spoke to the chief minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren ji, and discussed with him the evolving flood situation. I discussed with him the case of sudden and huge release of water from Tenughat, which has already started flooding West Bengal,” Banerjee posted on X.

“I told him that Jharkhand waters have been flooding West Bengal, and this is man-made! I requested him to please take care of this,” she added.

The West Bengal chief minister also said that she is monitoring the situation and speaking to senior officials in the districts and issuing necessary instructions.

“I have, meanwhile, been monitoring the situation and have spoken to all the DMs concerned in south Bengal as well as in north Bengal. I have asked the DMs to be particularly vigilant and take proper care of the calamity situation in the next 3-4 days. I told them to take all precautionary measures so that there is no untoward incident anywhere,” she added.

The DVC, on the other hand, said discharge of water from Tenughat in Jharkhand is expected to reduce due to a dip in rainfall.

The DVC released 1.2 lakh cusecs of water from Panchet and Maithon dams along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border on Sunday morning after heavy discharge of water from Tenughat upstream. A total of 90,000 cusecs released from Panchet and Maithon on Saturday.

“However, less water is expected to be discharged from Tenughat from now on as rainfall has reduced. This means discharge from Maithon and Panchet will also be lesser,” DVC Maithon Executive Director Anjani Dubey told PTI.

Dubey said that the West Bengal government has improved the water flow capacity of rivers downstream, allowing them to handle up to 1.5 lakh cusecs of water, compared to the previous capacity of 70,000 cusecs.

“I do not foresee any flood threat now with the dip in rainfall and West Bengal government’s good work in river dredging and water flow management, which has nearly doubled the water holding capacity to 1.5 lakh cusecs,” he said.

The Durgapur Barrage receives water from Panchet and Maithon nearly 12 hours after discharge. The West Bengal government has already taken stock of the situation and measures to protect human life, warning DVC against any sudden heavy water release.

In southern West Bengal, several districts including Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Paschim and Purba Medinipur, Bankura, Hooghly and Howrah are impacted by the release of water by DVC.

The water release decision is taken by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), which includes representatives from the West Bengal government.

Meanwhile, a state government official said that none of the rivers were flowing above the danger mark, although a few, including Damodar, were close to the red mark.