West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the flood-affected areas on Thursday, said she has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dam does not release large amounts of water which has been causing flood in several areas.
She said despite her request to the Prime Minister, large areas surrounding the DVC have been inundated by water, released through its barrages.
"We have been asking the DVC to release water in lesser quantities so that the adverse effects here are minimised. Every time it rains, they release water from Jharkhand and Bengal suffers. Had dredging been carried out, more than 2 lakh cusecs of water could have been saved in the reservoirs. There would not have been any flood-like situation," Mamata said.
"We have been vocal on this issue since 2012. We had talked to Manmohan Singh when he was the Prime Minister; we have also talked to Narendra Modi, but to no avail. Even day before yesterday, when I was in Delhi, I spoke to him about the situation and requested him to ensure DVC do not release any more water. They say water is released by regulatory commission not the DVC. They do not understand the problems of common people," she added.
She said every year farmers suffer crop losses due to floods and their houses gest destroyed, cattle and animals die.
The Chief Minister assured that the administration was taking every measure for flood relief.
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