Kolkata/Ranchi: The West Bengal-Jharkhand border has been reopened for movement of trucks for inter-state trade after it remained closed for nearly 24 hours. The West Bengal government had closed the border on Thursday evening after the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released water from its dams located on the inter-state border with Jharkhand. The release of water caused flooding in districts of south Bengal. "The inter-state border has been opened and thousands of goods-laden trucks stranded on NH-2 and NH-6 have left for West Bengal," a Jharkhand government official said on Saturday.

Thousands of trucks were stuck due to the closure of the border

Truck operators in West Bengal said the border had opened but it would take some time for trucks standing in a 20-25 km long queue at the border to move forward. The border closure had stranded thousands of trucks, including those from northern states carrying perishable food items, and had also affected emergency services. Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Shubhendu Adhikari said in a post on X, "Mamata Banerjee has bowed down to the determination of the Ministry of Home Affairs, NHAI, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the people of Jharkhand who had started a movement against her to stop vehicles going from Jharkhand to West Bengal."

Mamata blamed DVC for the flood

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that the flood situation in her state was caused by the uncontrolled release of water from its dams by the DVC to 'save Jharkhand'. Following this, the entry of heavy vehicles coming to West Bengal from Jharkhand was banned. Blaming the DVC for the 'man-made' floods in West Bengal, she said that her government will sever all ties with the DVC. A DVC official had said that the water was released on the instructions of the New Delhi-based Central Water Commission (CWC) but now it has been stopped. The ruling JMM in Jharkhand has launched a scathing attack on Mamata for allegedly sealing the inter-state border.

'If Jharkhand closes its borders then…'

JMM general secretary and central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, "Mamata Banerjee's decision to seal the borders will cost her heavily. If Jharkhand closes its borders, West Bengal will be cut off from the western, northern and southern parts of India. I request Didi to take a sensitive stand. Goods carrying vehicles are not responsible for flooding your state." DVC had clarified on Thursday that the decision to release water was taken unanimously by the West Bengal Water Resources Department, Jharkhand Water Resources Department and the technical expert committee of DVC.