Amta (Howrah), July 27 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday held the central government and the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) responsible for the "man-made" floods in southern West Bengal districts.

"This is man-made flood. This will go on till September. We will monitor the situation closely till first or second week of October. It has rained more this year and on top of that, water is being released. DVC is releasing water without informing us," Banerjee told the media here during an inspection of the inundated areas in Hooghly and Howrah.

Banerjee also interacted with local residents and told them about the cause of floods there.

"What you see here is not due to rains. Over two lakh cusecs of water has been released by DVC. That water will reach the area by midnight. I can only apologise. Unless the DVC is reformed, the problem will persist," she said.

Banerjee on Wednesday demanded that the central government immediately "revamp" the DVC.

She said the central government should start dredging at places like Farraka barrage and ports of Kolkata and Haldia to stop this flooding every year.

The DVC, however, said that it has "no role" in releasing the water as the decision was made by the Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC), which has the central government as well as state government representatives.