West Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today took stock of the flood-affected districts in the state and slammed the Centre for not supporting the state in the crisis. "This is a man-made flood. I will call for Jharkhand to prepare a plan in consultation with us. Will request the Centre to prepare a master plan to prevent recurrence of floods. Had the dams in Jharkhand been dredged, Bengal would not have faced such a situation," she said. 

After an aerial survey of a few flood-hit areas, Banerjee said discharge of over five lakh cubic foot of water by PSU DVC over the past two days without informing the West Bengal government has caused the flood in the state.  The situation in parts of East and West Midnapore, Bankura, Hooghly, Birbhum, Howrah and East and West Burdwan was grim due to disproportionate discharge of water by Damodar Valley Corporation, following rains in Jharkhand, the chief minister said. 

Four lakh people of the state have been affected by the floods and the state government was providing them relief, she said. Fifty rescue and relief teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF were working in the affected areas, Banerjee said.  "Hope the water will recede quickly," she added.

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