&w=3840&q=100)
India should intervene diplomatically to stop Iran-Israel conflict: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed concern over the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict and urged the Centre to take diplomatic initiatives to help end the hostilities between the two West Asian nations.
The conflict has seen hundreds of missiles and drones exchanged between Israel and Iran since tensions escalated over a week ago, with the situation worsening significantly following the US bombing of three major Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning.
During her address in the assembly on environmental issues, Banerjee said, "War has broken out in many parts of the world. Such things cause air and water pollution. We have to take steps to stop this." She said, "External affairs come under the Indian government. Diplomatically, peacefully, we must take initiative so that war stops." Banerjee clarified, "I am not authorised to speak on external affairs and diplomatic issues. This is my personal view as a concerned citizen of this world." Speaking on the flood situation in Ghatal sub-division in Paschim Medinipur district, she said, despite repeated reminders, the central agency DVC is "not undertaking dredging operations" at its dams in Maithon and Panchet.
She accused the DVC of releasing large volumes of water from its dams during the rainy season "without informing" the West Bengal government.
"They are releasing water without informing us. They have not conducted dredging operations for many years. Now, DVC has the accumulated capacity to store one lakh cusec of water in its dams. Had they undertaken dredging operations regularly, four lakh cusecs of water could have been stored in their dams and such overflowing in vast parts of south Bengal won't recur," Banerjee said in the assembly.
West Bengal Irrigation Minister Manas Bhuniya had on Monday said nearly two lakh people have been affected in the floods at Ghatal sub-division in Paschim Medinipur district and asserted that the government was taking every possible step to help the marooned people.
Bhuniya had alleged that the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) aggravated the situation by "failing to regulate the release of water" from its dams in Jharkhand despite requests from the West Bengal irrigation department.
The minister had told reporters that he wrote to the chairman of the organisation to exercise caution while discharging additional water in future.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
Rajnath Singh will travel to China for SCO meeting of Defence ministers
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: Union defence minister Rajnath Singh , who is travelling to Qingdao for the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting , will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts to discuss wide ranging issues, including the ongoing tensions in West minister is leading a high-level Indian delegation for the meeting and will present the country's vision for global peace and security, economic cooperation and connectivity, and call for joint efforts to eliminate terrorism. Officials said that Rajnath Singh will also stress on the need for greater trade in the region and joint efforts to counter extremism. The visit comes at a time when India has conducted anti-terror strikes against Pakistan - an SCO SCO member, Iran has come under attack from Israel and the US for its nuclear programme. India had earlier disassociated itself from an SCO statement that protested against the strikes on Iran and called for restoration of peace and tranquility. "India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multi-lateralism, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region," an official statement prior to the defence minister's departure has signed contracts worth ₹2,000 crore to boost its operational readiness for counterterrorism operations, officials said on Tuesday. A total of 13 contracts have been signed that aim to enhance situational awareness, lethality, mobility, and protection for troops deployed in counter terror environments. Key acquisitions include integrated drone detection and interdiction systems, low-level lightweight radars, very short-range air defence systems and loitering munitions, including vertical take-off and landing systems as reported.
NDTV
42 minutes ago
- NDTV
Trump Says Doesn't Want 'Regime Change' In Iran, Cites Risk of Chaos
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he didn't want to see "regime change" in Iran amid its conflict with Israel, adding that it would cause "chaos." "If there was, there was, but no I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos." Iran said that it was ready to return to negotiations with the United States, as a fragile ceasefire in its war with Israel took hold after 12 days of strikes that pummelled the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities. But even as he appeared to express willingness to revisit nuclear talks derailed by Israel's surprise attack, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would continue to "assert its legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic power. The United States on Sunday had joined Israel's campaign with strikes on key nuclear sites. After Iran retaliated with a missile attack Monday night targeting a US base in Qatar, President Donald Trump called for de-escalation, announcing the contours of a truce deal hours later. Israel has said its war, which began on June 13, was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has long denied holding. After Trump angrily berated both sides for early violations of the truce on Tuesday, Tehran announced it would respect the terms of the deal if Israel did the same, while Israel said it had refrained from further strikes. Both Israel and Iran appeared to claim victory following the announcement of the truce. The Israeli government said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convened his cabinet "to announce that Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation Rising Lion and much more". Iran's top security body, meanwhile, said the Islamic republic's forces had "compelled" Israel to "unilaterally" stand down. While Iran and Israel have been locked in a shadow war for decades, it has been by far the most destructive confrontation between the arch-foes. The war saw US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites using massive bunker-busting bombs, followed by an Iranian reprisal targeting the United States' largest military facility in the Middle East. Trump shrugged off that response as "weak", thanking Tehran for giving advanced notice and announcing the outline of the ceasefire just hours later. Iran's National Security Council had said the number of missiles launched at the base "was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used" against Iran. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 610 civilians and wounded more than 4,700, according to the health ministry. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, according to official figures and rescuers.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Carefully planned Iran strikes on US base set stage for truce
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel TEHRAN: Iran's unprecedented strikes on a US base in Qatar were carefully calculated to provide an exit from hostilities with Washington and set up a truce with Israel, according to analysts and an missile launches were signalled well in advance, minimising the risk of injury and giving every opportunity to shoot down the projectiles - resulting in a fireworks display of booms and flashes above Doha They followed heavy US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, a sudden escalation that raised concerns about how Tehran, after more than a week of exchanges with Israel, would the event, gas-rich Qatar, 190 kilometres south of Iran across the Gulf, held the answer in the form of Al Udeid, the Middle East's biggest US base and headquarters of its regional a United States base, rather than inciting fury, triggered a calm reaction from President Donald Trump , who thanked Iran for giving "early notice".Qatar condemned the strikes - Iran's first on a Gulf country's territory - but its prime minister said the response would be diplomatic and legal, rather than after the attack, Trump announced a ceasefire that both Israel and Iran later said they would accept. A source with knowledge of the talks said Doha had spoken to Tehran and "persuaded" it to stop House geopolitics specialist Neil Quilliam said the attack was "clearly limited" and "intended to satisfy Iran's population that its leadership responded forcibly to the US air strikes on Saturday".Iran had promised to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the US for joining its ally Israel's campaign against the Islamic republic with strikes on three nuclear wealthy Gulf states, which host a number of US military sites, had been preparing for days for a possible strike by Iran.A week before Qatar was targeted, Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, tested its civil defence last week, dozens of US military aircraft disappeared from the tarmac at Al Udeid, according to satellite images published by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by the hours before the attack, the US embassy in Qatar advised Americans there not to go out, with some other Western embassies echoing the before the strikes, air traffic was suspended over Qatar "as part of a set of precautionary measures", the country's foreign ministry Vaez, senior advisor at the International Crisis Group said Iran's action against Qatar was "symbolic" and "calibrated and telegraphed in a way that would not result in any American casualties, so that there is an off-ramp for both sides".
