Bengal floods: CM Mamata writes to PM, threatens to sever ties with DVC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that her state would sever all ties with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for "unilaterally releasing water", which led to floods in south Bengal districts. In a four-page letter to Modi, she claimed that five million people in Bengal have been affected by the floods, and urged him to immediately sanction and release central funds to address the widespread devastation caused by the deluge. Sharply retorting to her remarks, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari challenged the chief minister to execute her ultimatum by the end of the day and warned that if Banerjee severed ties with the DVC, several districts in southern Bengal would plunge into darkness. "I would like to draw your kind attention to the fact that as a result of an unprecedented, unplanned, and unilateral release of an enormously huge volume of water at nearly five lakh cusec from the combined system of Maithon and Panch