Governor CV Ananda Bose of West Bengal has requested an explanation from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding the state’s decision to seal the border with Jharkhand. According to sources from Raj Bhavan, the Governor invoked Article 167 of the Constitution, asking the Chief Minister to clarify whether the reports about the border closure are accurate and, if so, the reasons behind it.
Following a rise in water levels that affected National Highway 16 at Panshkura, Banerjee ordered the temporary sealing of vehicle movement between Bengal and Jharkhand for three days. The two states share borders in the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, and Paschim Bardhaman.
On Friday, long queues of cargo trucks were reported at the Jharkhand-West Bengal border, with vehicles carrying essential raw materials stuck due to the closure.
In light of the floods in Bengal, which Banerjee attributes to the release of 5 lakh cusecs of water from dams controlled by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Chief Minister described the flooding as a “man-made disaster” that has severely impacted over 5 million residents. She warned that if the negligence continues, the state may sever ties with the DVC.
Banerjee expressed her concerns on social media, stating, “I wrote to PM Modi highlighting the devastation caused by the unprecedented release of water from DVC dams, which has led to the worst flooding in the Lower Damodar since 2009. Despite repeated warnings, the Centre has ignored the failures affecting the DVC.” In her letter, she emphasized that the unplanned release of such a large volume of water has caused widespread misery across South Bengal, affecting over 1,000 square kilometers and nearly 5 million people.