West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) said that the central government does not offer flood and disaster relief funds for her State but offers help to Assam in times of need. She alleged that excess water release from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has led to flooding in many districts in the lower Damodar region, however, DVC has denied all contentions of unforeseen water release.
Mamata Blames Centre For Negating Flood Relief Funds To West Bengal
The CM said Assam gets aid while West Bengal battles floods from DVC reservoirs water release; to this DVC rejects accusations of inadvertent water release
Mamta said that even after recurring warnings, the dams of DVC have released weighty loads of water from Jharkhand and flooded West Bengal. She added that as Bengal is a land high in water bodies, it suffers more during monsoons. Moreover, places like Paschim Medinipur districts Ghatal, parts of Purba Bardhaman district, Khanakul, Arambagh in Hooghly district and Amta, Udaynarayanpur in Howrah district, and other places have been grappling with water logging for the past few weeks.
“We have asked the Central government to do desilting work so they can hold an extra 4 lacs metric cusec water and help with this crisis. They have released over 27,000 lacs cubic meters of water between June 18 and July 15,” Banerjee said. She also said that they have been fighting this battle with the DVC for over 15 years but to no avail.
However, according to The Hindu, the DVC releases water only after discussions with the committee which includes the governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand, and the DVC authorities along with the Central Water Commission. “We do not decide water release amount on our own,” a top level official at the DVC anonymously told The Hindu.
The CM also alleged that she has conducted multiple meetings and has urged the central government to find a solution. “People are facing huge losses. Assam gets flood relief money while we do not. They only release water here and abandon us...” Banerjee added.
She urged all government administrative officials to be vigilant and regularly observe the flood situation carefully to create more relief centers to help people affected by these floods.
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