'No Need To Keep Dams If They Can’t Hold Water,' Says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee - VIDEO

Kolkata: Before leaving for a two-day visit to North Bengal to oversee rescue operations in the flood situation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday had blamed the central government for the flood situation in north Bengal.

“I am tired of saying this for the past 20 years. Mython, DVC, Panchet, they don’t even have the capacity to hold water. Then what’s the point of keeping them? It would have been better if we didn’t have them. The water would have entered naturally and flowed out, everyone could have shared the pressure equally. But now we are facing the consequences, especially North Bengal. They are releasing water through the Durgapur Barrage, and the force of the water is destroying bridges and everything in its path,” said Mamata.

Mamata also mentioned that the state government had requested the Bhutan government to release water slowly.

“The Bhutan government sent us a letter yesterday expressing their sympathies. We have requested them to release water slowly because once water is released, it takes 2–3 days to reach us. Still, with the amount they released, Nagrakata was washed away, along with Dhupguri and many areas of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Matigara, Darjeeling, and Mirik. The worst-affected regions are Nagrakata and Mirik, as well as Jorebunglow and Kalimpong,” further added Mamata.

Notably, the West Bengal Chief Minister had also announced Rs. 5 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased.

“I want to warn everyone here, on October 7 and October 8, there will be high tides. Because of DVC’s Panchet and Maithon releases, waterlogging has already occurred in Ghatal, which is a low-lying area. The Ghatal Master Plan has not been implemented even 20 years after the Centre promised it, so we are doing it ourselves. But even if that is completed, as long as DVC keeps releasing water like this, we will need another way to deal with it,” further stated the West Bengal Chief Minister.

After reaching north Bengal, Mamata was seen inspecting the affected areas and urged everyone to stay by the affected people.

“I had sent a letter to the PM stating that there should be an Indo-Bhutan River Commission, or else North Bengal will continue to face the consequences. But I have not received any response. In South Bengal, it is the DVC, Panchet and Maithon, and they don’t dredge Farakka. Bhutan has 56 rivers, and they have constructed 40 hydropower plants in Sikkim. So all that water comes here, which is why I requested that they form an Indo-Bhutan Commission,” mentioned Mamata.