State forms group to monitor flood management in districts

The state government has formed a monitoring group comprising IAS officers at the rank of special secretaries for flood monitoring and management. The move comes as four districts continue to bear the brunt of incessant rainfall, allegedly worsened by the release of additional water from Damodar Valley Corporation-controlled dams.

A notification to this effect was issued today by the state chief secretary, Manoj Pant, announcing the formation of a special monitoring group. This group of IAS officers will be deployed to the worst-affected districts — West Midnapore, East Burdwan, Birbhum and Hooghly — to assess the ground situation and recommend measures to alleviate the hardships faced by residents grappling with the flood situation.

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According to the notification, a four-member team, led by Surendra Gupta, secretary, public health engineering department, will oversee operations in West Midnapore. The team will visit severely affected areas, coordinate with the District Magistrate and officials from disaster management, civil defence, and the police, and ensure proper relief and rehabilitation efforts are underway.

In East Burdwan, a two-member team of IAS officers at the rank of secretaries has been appointed. Similarly, two officers of equivalent rank will oversee flood response in Birbhum under the guidance of the special secretary to the finance department. For Hooghly, another two-member team headed by the special secretary, school education department will supervise the distribution of relief and rehabilitation support.

In a latest development, a source within the state secretariat at Nabanna indicated that the DVC had been formally warned against releasing further water, which could worsen the flooding. Officials claimed that a strongly-worded email had been sent to the DVC, urging it to halt additional discharges from Mython and Panchet dams to avoid overflowing.