Floods in parts of Bengal 'man-made' crisis: Mamata

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Centre on Wednesday for the flood-like situation in some parts of South Bengal and said that the "man-made" crisis occurred due to relentless "noncooperation" and "indifference" by the Union government.

- PRADIP CHATTERJEE

A 10-year-old child died due to the flood situation in West Midnapore's Keshpur.

Banerjee visited some of the inundated pockets at Pursurah block in Hooghly earlier in the day and held the Centre-run Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for the flood situation due to the release of huge quantities of water from its dams in one go.

"This is a man-made flood. They planned to drown Bengal. I personally spoke to the DVC authorities. I spoke to Hemant Soren, Chief Minister of Jharkahnd at least thrice. The last time DVC released so much water was in 2009," Banerjee told reporters in Hooghly.

"The DVC released over 3.5 lakh cusecs of water in one go this time, the highest ever. Why don't DVC authorities start releasing water gradually when around 80 per cent of their barrages are filled up? The Union government is trying to save the states ruled by the ruling party at the Centre, as a result of which the people of Bengal are suffering," the Chief Minister said.