Kolkata Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (October 3, 2025) accused the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) of putting the State ‘in immediate peril’ by discharging 65,000 cusecs of water from its dams today and increasing the possibility of flooding downstream in West Bengal, amid forecasts of heavy rain and thunderstorms in the State.
“Bijoya Dashami marks the close of Durga Puja — a time for joy, cheer and renewed hope. Yet instead of allowing the people of West Bengal to conclude the festival in peace, the DVC released 65,000 cusecs of water without any prior notice to the State. This reckless act is nothing short of an attempt to inflict misery during our sacred festivities,” the Chief Minister wrote in a social media post on October 3, a day after Durga Puja festivities came to an end.
In her post, she termed DVC’s actions as “shameful and unacceptable” and alleged that the impending natural calamity would be a disaster manufactured by the DVC.
“Let me be clear: I will not allow anyone to carry out a Bisarjan (immersion) of Bengal. Every conspiracy against our people will be resisted with full force. Truth will prevail over deceit and good will triumph over evil,” Ms Banerjee said.
The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is a multipurpose river valley project under the Union Ministry of Power that manages a network of dams in the Damodar river valley area spread across Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The DVC on Friday (October 3) flashed an orange flood warning on their website upon the release of nearly 70,000 cusecs of water from Maithon and Panchet dams at around 9.30am. They estimated that water discharged would arrive downstream in different parts of West Bengal between October 3 and October 6.
“The DVC released over 1.5 lakh cusecs of water cumulatively between yesterday and today without informing us. Districts like Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad, and parts of Paschim Midnapore are especially vulnerable to flooding. We have alerted all district and police officials including District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Block Development Officers, Officers-in-Charge of police stations and disaster management personnel. We have also opened up a control room that I am monitoring personally,” Minister for Irrigation and Waterways, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, told The Hindu.
Ongoing conflict
This is not the first time the West Bengal Chief Minister has attacked the DVC.
In July and August this year, the Trinamool government had accused the Central agency of creating flood-like situations downstream in several low-lying areas of West Bengal by releasing water from its dams during the rainy season, when the State was simultaneously experiencing very heavy rainfall.
While DVC officials had earlier cited the release of water as a necessary step in the management of water in its reservoirs, Ms Banerjee had accused them of poor dam management by delaying dredging and allegedly keeping West Bengal’s officials in the dark about their water discharge timelines.
However, DVC had refuted these allegations in the past, claiming that water discharge from the dams are done in coordination with officials of the Government of West Bengal.
Forecast of heavy rain
Notably the release of water by the DVC comes amidst the India Meteorological Department’s forecasts of heavy rain and thunderstorms across the State, following a depression in Odisha.
According to the IMD bulletin, heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms are expected between October 3 and October 9 in districts in South Bengal like Birbhum, Murshidabad, Paschim Midnapore, Purba Midnapore, and South 24 Parganas. Thundershowers and heavy rain have also been forecast for the northern districts like Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Alipurduar.
Published – October 03, 2025 10:53 pm IST
