Remembering the Dvc Dream: Of Nationhood and Development Visions

Abstract

In July 1943, when the Second World War was in full swing, Calcutta was the headquarters of the supply base for the Southeast Asian command of the allied nations. The Damodar Valley had experienced continuous rains for four days and the accumulated run–off caused a breach in the northern embankment around Amitupur village in Burdwan district. The escaping water shot forward as a jet, undermining the two embankments bordering the Eden canal on the way, drilled through the Grand Trunk Road and rammed against the Eastern Railway lines, melting the earthen embankments on which the railway tracks stood. The fury of the floods abated shortly afterwards, but the water that escaped the river stagnated over fields and surrounded the dwellings; sand spread over cultivated fields and the flood water dug into the mud plinths of walls leading to the collapse of houses.’ Along with these damages there was also breakdown of all communication. Thus the hardship to which the people were exposed provided a fresh momentum for agitation at a time when the people of India were in the midst of a campaign for freedom from the British yoke