July 27, 2017
Saugata Roy makes a Zero Hour Mention regarding the flood situation in Bengal
FULL TRANSCRIPT
I want to raise the following matter in Zero Hour.
Our State of Bengal is facing the threat of floods in six districts, namely, Birbhum, Bankura, Murshidabad, Howrah, Hooghly and Purba Midnapur. Already three people have died in three districts. A large number of villages are facing water-logging. This flood situation is man-made. The flood situation has come due to release of water from the dams of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).
Since Bengal is on the lower reaches of the river Damodar, our suffering is more. The water level in Tenughat Reservoir of Jharkhand is already high and the dam is likely to release more water. DVC has released 2 lakh cusecs of water in three days from Mythan and Panchet dams, both of which are situated in Bengal. The State Government has been repeatedly requesting for desilting of the reservoirs in above dams for a long time. But, the DVC, which is under the Central Government, has taken no steps. Nor has the Centre given approval to the lower-Damodar Drainage Scheme.
Madam, the flood in Bengal is man-made. The Prime Minister went for an aerial survey of floods in Gujarat and sanctioned Rs 500 crore for flood relief, which is all right. But, he did not come to visit Assam, which is badly flood-affected or Rajasthan, let alone Bengal. We want the Prime Minister to deal with all the flood-affected states on equal footing and take adequate steps for the man-made floods in Bengal.
Thank you.
