Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she had asked the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) authorities to inform state officials before releasing water from their dams, holding the central utility responsible for inundation of several south Bengal pockets.

“If we get information earlier, we can shift the people to safer destinations,” Mamata said.

She added that the state government had set up a round-the-clock monitoring team headed by chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to monitor the flood situation in Bengal.

“I wrote to the Centre several times regarding dredging of the dam beds at Farakka and other places. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has also raised this issue,” Mamata said.

Earlier this week, she had expressed displeasure over DVC’s decision to open dams without informing the state government. DVC officials denied the charge, saying they had always alerted the state before releasing water.