Assam CM objects to Mamata's message to Hemant Soren on Bengal floods: 'Respect didi, but...'

Banerjee claims that the water released from dams in Jharkhand caused a flood-like situation in West Bengal.

Published on: Aug 4, 2024, 21:20:33 IST

By HT News Desk

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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 water being released from dams.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. (PTI)

Banerjee claims that water released from dams in Jharkhand was causing a flood-like situation in West Bengal.

"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 also said that she has been monitoring the situation and have spoken to all the DMs concerned in South Bengal as well as in North Bengal.

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“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,” Banerjee wrote on X.

However, Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of neighbouring Assam, objected to Mamata's post, saying that he cannot accept her notion that the Jharkhand government is responsible for the floods in West Bengal.

He pointed out that every year water from Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan cause floods in Assam, but his government do not blame them.

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“I respect Didi, but I cannot accept her notion that the Jharkhand government is responsible for the floods in West Bengal. Both governments should work together to alleviate the hardships faced by the people,” Sarma wrote on X in hindi.

“Every year, the water flowing down from the Arunachal and Bhutan hills causes floods in Assam. However, we do not blame the Arunachal government or the Royal Bhutan government because we understand that water knows no boundaries and flows naturally downstream.”

Water expected to reduce

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, reported PTI.

The DVC had 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. Prior to that, about 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.

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HT News Desk
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