4.22 lakh hectare of agricultural land affected by floods: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said as much as 4.22 lakh hectares of agricultural land was affected by the recent flood, which she once again called "man-made" due to excessive release of water by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

"As much as 4.22 lakh hectares of agricultural land was affected and more than 1.06 lakh people have taken shelter in the relief camps due to the flood in the south Bengal districts. This is becoming a man-made phenomenon as the DVC has been continuously releasing water from its dams," she said in a statement at the state assembly.

Banerjee demanded dredging of DVC's dams and barrages for raising their water-storage capacity and said the state government has taken up a Rs 2,000 crore project for construction of irrigation embankments.

She said that she had met Prime minister Narendra Modi and Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal to apprise them about the problem of water release by the DVC dams.

--IANS

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