Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded that the Centre should carry out dredging in the dams maintained by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to save Bengal from regular floods.

She said this would make the state government’s efforts in the lower Damodar basin more effective in controlling floods.

“Floods keep occurring due to the release of water by the DVC and these are man-made floods... Had they (the DVC) dredged the dams, Howrah and Hooghly would not have suffered every year,” said the chief minister at the state Assembly on Monday.

The chief minister said if the water holding capacity of Maithon and Panchet dams is not increased, the World Bank project on the lower Damodar basin would not solve the inundation problem completely.

“Since they have not taken up the dredging work in Maithon and Panchet dams, we have taken up a project to control floods and improve irrigation facilities in the lower Damodar basin. It would cost ₹2,232 crore and work on that is nearing completion. But until the DVC increases the water holding capacity of the dams, the new project would not be completely effective in solving the problem,” Mamata said.

Sources in the irrigation department said the lower Damodar basin area is very flood-prone. On average, 33,500 hectares of farmland and 4,61,000 people are affected annually by the release of water from the DVC.

The project downstream of Damodar is aimed at addressing the infrastructure gap to protect the area from recurring floods. This project would set up infrastructure to reduce flooding, including strengthening embankments and desilting.

“But the problem is that the project will work to its full effect once it is ensured that the DVC does not release excessive water all of a sudden. This is the reason why the chief minister was laying stress on dredging of the dams of the DVC,” said a senior official.

The chief minister also pointed out that she had heard that the DVC would be
privatised.

“I heard that the DVC would be privatised. Everything is being sold out. Rail, GAIL, DVC everything is being privatised. I apprehend that our country would be privatised one day,” said the chief minister.

The chief minister also raised the issue of the Ghatal Master Plan in the House on Monday, saying the Centre did not implement it for years even though large swathes of West Midnapore and Hooghly get submerged every year.

“As the Ghatal Master Plan was pending for years and the Centre did not do it, we have decided that the state would do it. The detailed project report (DPR) has been completed. A sum of Rs 1,000 crore would be required to complete the project. It will take 2-3 years to complete the project,” said the chief minister.

A senior DVC official said they would first go through the chief minister’s statement and then comment on the issue.