The Mamata Banerjee government has put 10 districts in south Bengal on high flood alert following heavy release of water from the dams of Damodar Valley Corporation and engaged 10 senior IAS officers to monitor disaster management operations.

“The chief minister held meetings with the chief secretary and other officers including the district magistrates and issued a series of instructions.... People have to be evacuated from low-lying areas, flood shelters should be kept ready, and food items should be ready for an emergency — these are some of the instructions given by the chief minister,” said Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the chief adviser to Mamata Banerjee.

He also said that 10 senior IAS officers would monitor the situation in Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore and East Burdwan.

Sources in the state administration said water bodies in the 10 south Bengal districts were brimming. All these 10 districts witnessed 90mm to 150mm of rainfall in the past 72 hours due to a cyclonic circulation that converted into a deep depression.

“Now, the DVC has started releasing water from Maithan and Panchet dams as the depression moves towards Jharkhand.... The sudden release of water could leave a heavy impact in several south Bengal districts. The state government is worried as the festive season is approaching,” said a bureaucrat.

Sources in the irrigation department said the government was worried because the Durgapur Barrage — which stores and releases water from Maithan and Panchet Dams — released 1.33 lakh cusec water on Tuesday morning.

“Durgapur Barrage may have to release up to 2.5 lakh cusec by Wednesday as Maithan and Panchet dams could release more water due to the heavy rainfall in their catchment areas. Anything above 1 lakh cusec of water released from Durgapur Barrage can affect a number of districts downstream of Damodar,” said an official.

The decision to release water from various DVC barrages poses a fresh flood threat in parts of four districts — Bankura, East Burdwan, Howrah, and Hooghly.

The DVC’s Maithan dam started releasing 200,000 cusecs of water on Tuesday morning.

State irrigation Minister Manas Bhuniya on Tuesday afternoon held an administrative meeting with officials from different departments in Hooghly — the most affected district following the release of water from the DVC.

“Hooghly’s Khanakul, Arambagh, and Howrah’s Udaynarayanpur and Amta are likely to be the worst hit,” said a senior state government official.

Around 200 villages in these four districts have already been inundated following heavy rainfall since September 15 and the earlier release of floodwater from DVC barrages.

An official said most of the south Bengal rivers were flowing above the danger level due to the combined impact of heavy rainfall and the release of water from DVC’s Tenughat dam in Jharkhand.

Rivers like Rupnarayan, Dwarakeswar, Shilabati, Kaliaghai, Old Cossye, New Cossye, Kalapaleswari, and Durbachati were flowing above the extreme danger level. Rivers like Dwarka, Dwarakeswar, and Kangsabati were also flowing above danger level.

Mamata also expressed concern over the flood-like situation on Monday night when she held a news meet at her residence after the meeting with protesting junior doctors.

“The DVC has released 80,000 to 90,000 cusec water suddenly. This has led to a flood like situation in many areas. Districts like Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, North 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly have been affected. I have held meetings with the DMs and asked them to initiate measures,” she said.

She requested common people to cooperate with the administration if evacuation was needed. “I am telling common people that you should not risk your life,” she said.

Sources said Mamata’s appeal came at a time when many people were resisting officials when asked to move to flood shelters.

Sources said that the state government was already running 180 camps to which people in low-lying areas were taken since heavy rainfall in Bengal since September 15. “Two deaths were reported following heavy rainfall.... More than 7,900 people were taken to the camps,” said an official.