Furious at the unilateral discharge of about 1.5 lakh cusecs of water by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the central agency of a deliberate ploy to unleash disaster on the people of the state during the festive season.Protesting against the DVC’s fresh release of water from different dams, Banerjee said, “This is a deliberate ploy to unleash disaster on us to inflict pain on millions when they are still busy in the Pujas. Shameful, intolerable, unacceptable! We protest!!”Giving an update on the “unilateral and wilful release of water” by the DVC, she said that by this evening, the agency had released more than 1.5 lakh cusecs of water from the Maithon and Panchet dams to flood Bengal during the festival period. She said it was a “manufactured disaster” after the DVC released water on Bijoya Dashami without prior notice to the state.Banerjee added that the sudden discharge endangered millions of lives during Durga Puja festivities.She described the move as “reckless” and “unacceptable,” accusing the central agency of disrupting peace and placing the state at high risk.
“Bijoya Dashami marks the close of Durga Puja – a time for joy, cheer and renewed hope. Yet, instead of allowing the people of West Bengal to conclude the festival in peace, the DVC released water without any prior notice to the state. This reckless act is nothing short of an attempt to inflict misery during our sacred festivities,” the chief minister iterated.
Banerjee said the act on the part of the DVC was”unilateral, shameful, and absolutely unacceptable”. “By releasing water without intimation, the DVC has placed millions of lives in Bengal in immediate peril. This is not a natural calamity; it is a disaster manufactured by the DVC,” she said.“Let me be clear, I will not allow anyone to carry out a Bisarjan of Bengal. Every conspiracy against our people will be resisted with full force. Truth will prevail over deceit and good will triumph over evil,” she concluded.Meanwhile, reports from the districts said that local administrations and disaster response teams sounded alerts after the DVC release and began evacuations in low-lying areas along rivers and canals.Officials reported rising water levels in several districts and moved residents from vulnerable zones to safer shelters.Puja organisers postponed or shifted immersion activities in affected places to avoid large gatherings near inundated riverbanks. State emergency services deployed boats and rescue teams to manage sudden waterlogging and assist in transporting the elderly and children away from risk zones during the holiday.
