Mamata Banerjee seeks PM's intervention over water release

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention over the release of water from dams by the Jharkhand government and DVC without "prior intimation", in the wake of heavy rains triggered by Cyclone Phailin.

"The Chief Minister has written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention on the release of water from any state or any authority to another state without prior intimation," state's Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee told here.

A meeting in this regard was held at the Chief Minister's residence where she discussed the issue and reviewed the situation, he said.

Banerjee visited Howrah district to review the flood situation at Amta and Udainarayanpur and directed Mukherjee and party MP Mukul Roy to review the situation in East and West Midnapore districts, which have been flooded due to heavy rains and release of water from Galudi and Kangsabati dams.

"DVC authorities had informed us about the release of around 1 lakh cusec water, but till now they have already released 1.63 lakh cusecs without any prior information," said state Irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee.

State's Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan told PTI that about 2.40 lakh cusec water was likely to be released from Galudi and Kangsabati dams, besides DVC.

The state government had earlier requested Jharkhand government and DVC authorities to release water in a phased manner allowing people to shift to safer places, he said.