Bengal Officials Resign Over Water Release Dispute from Damodar Valley Corporation Reservoirs

Amid a war of words between the West Bengal government and Centre over release of water from reservoirs of Damodar Valley Corporation, state Power secretary Santanu Basu has stepped down from the Board of DVC, officials said on Sunday. The Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Waterways of West Bengal has also quit the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), they said.

Basu in an email to DVC chairman on September 21 said “In view of the unprecedented and uncontrolled release of water by the DVC from its dam systems, leading to widespread inundation causing immense sufferings to the people in vast areas of the state, I do hereby tender my resignation as the member of state from the Board of DVC.”

State Information and Cultural Affairs Department in a statement on Sunday said “apart from the Power secretary, the Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Waterways, West Bengal, also resigned to voice protest on the same issue from Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC).” The resignations take place in the backdrop of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee having written two letters to PM Narendra Modi on the flood situation maintaining that DVC released water from its reservoirs without consulting her government, inundating several districts.

Responding to Banerjee’s first letter to the PM, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil had said the state’s officials were informed at every stage about the release of water from DVC reservoirs, which was essential to prevent a major disaster. Banerjee in her second letter to the PM on September 21 said, “While the hon’ble minister claims that the release from DVC dams was carried out by consensus and collaboration with the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee, including consultations with representatives of the government of West Bengal, I may respectfully disagree.”

”All critical decisions are made unilaterally by representatives of the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India without arriving at a consensus,” she said. The Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) includes representatives from Central Water Commission, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and the DVC.