Bengal: Trinamool, Centre in war of words over DVC's water release during festive season

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday rebutted Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil’s claim regarding the release of water from two Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reservoirs, alleging a deliberate conspiracy by the Centre to destabilise West Bengal during the festive season.

In a post on X, Patil said the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) had been authorised to guide DVC in the release of water from Maithon and Panchet reservoirs.

He said the DVRRC secretariat had sought views from the West Bengal Irrigation and Waterways Directorate prior to the release, but received no response from the state government.

"The factual information provided by DVRRC secretariat is that a total combined release of 70,000 cusecs — 42,500 from (Maithon dam and 27,500 from Panchet dam — has been made and not 1,50,000 cusecs as tweeted by West Bengal CM," the Union minister claimed.

Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC)has been mandated to guide DVC in release of water from the Maithon and Panchet reservoirs in a co-ordinated manner and it follows a very systematic and scientific approach for reservoir operation as per laid down procedure in… https://t.co/guN5v0V5Rb

— C R Paatil (@CRPaatil) October 3, 2025

Reacting to the statement, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused the Centre of deliberately acting against the interests of West Bengal.

"The Centre’s policy to discriminate and conspire against West Bengal has again come to the fore, as rightly pointed out by our leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee," Ghosh said.

"Despite repeated requests from the state, central agencies like the DVC are releasing water whenever there is rainfall, without prior intimation. They have also failed to carry out proper dredging of reservoirs and riverbeds, which leads to water overflow," Ghosh said.

Trinamool Congress Students' Union president Trinankur Bhattacharya claimed that the BJP-led Centre was working with the intent to discredit the state government ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

"As pointed out by our supremo Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the DVC is not taking into consideration the state's concerns and repeating the same act over and over again. This is in sync with the Centre's discrimination to West Bengal by depriving central funds." Paatil reiterated that the DVRRC had followed procedure before the water release.

"Before making the releases, the DVRRC secretariat sought views and comments from the state government’s Irrigation and Waterways Directorate. But no comments or inputs were received. As per information available with the secretariat, there was no congestion in the Lower Damodar area," he added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the DVC of releasing water "recklessly and without prior intimation", and slammed the central PSU for what she termed a "deliberate ploy" to create a flood-like situation in south Bengal districts during the Durga Puja festivities.

In a strongly worded social media post, Banerjee described the initial release of 65,000 cusecs of water on Thursday (Bijoya Dashami) as "reckless" and "shameful", and said it had put "millions of lives in Bengal in immediate peril." In another post, she claimed that the DVC released more than 1,50,000 cusecs of water by Friday evening.

Issuing a warning, she added, "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. Joy Maa Durga!"