Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi on flood situation, seeks intervention for upgrading dams in West Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 04: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after taking stock of the flood situation in six districts of the state, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday seeking his intervention for drafting a plan to upgrade dams in the region.

Describing the flood as a "man-made one", Banerjee held "unprecedented release of water from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dams Panchet, Maithon and Tenughat" responsible for the flood situation.

Mamata Banerjee, in her letter, said 16 people died in the flood and lakhs of farmers lost their livelihood. She noted that houses, bridges, power lines and other infrastructure have also suffered extensive damage.

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"In respect of the current flood, we will shortly be sending our damage assessment for your kind intervention. I would reiterate the need to develop holistic and long-term solutions in respect to augmentation of storage capacity of the DVC system to ensure that West Bengal is spared the regular devastation and suffering from man-made floods perpetrated by huge releases from the DVC dams," she wrote in her 4-page letter.

Earlier in the day, the PM had telephoned Banerjee to seek updates on the flood situation in the state, and assured her of central assistance.