The external affairs ministry issued a statement on the situation after reports, mainly on social media in Bangladesh, claimed the floods were caused by the opening of India’s Dumbur dam
India on Thursday dismissed reports that the opening of a dam on the Gumti river in the northeastern state of Tripura had caused floods in Bangladesh, and said the flooding in the neighbouring country was due to waters from large catchments downstream.
Some reports even implied New Delhi resorted to such a step after the fall of the government of former premier Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down and fled to India on August 5 following a student-led uprising.
The statement said concerns expressed in Bangladesh about floods in some districts on the eastern borders being caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam in Tripura were “factually not correct”.
The Indian side pointed out that the catchment areas of the Gumti river, which flows through both countries, had witnessed the heaviest rains of this year over the past few days. “The flood in Bangladesh is primarily due to waters from these large catchments downstream of the dam,” the statement said.
Along the 120-km course of the river, India has three water level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2.
“Heavy rainfall has been continuing since August 21 in the whole of Tripura and adjoining districts of Bangladesh. In the event of heavy inflow, automatic releases have been observed,” the statement said.
The Amarpur water level observation station is part of a bilateral protocol under which India transmits real-time flood data to Bangladesh.
“Data showing rising trend has been supplied to Bangladesh up to 1500 hrs on 21 August 2024. At 1800 hrs, due to flooding, there was a power outage leading to problems of communication. Still, we have tried to maintain communication through other means created for urgent transmission of data,” the statement said.
Floods on rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh are a “shared problem inflicting sufferings [on] people on both sides and requires close mutual cooperation towards resolving them”, the statement said.
India and Bangladesh share 54 cross-border rivers, and the statement described river water cooperation as an “important part” of bilateral engagement. India remains committed to resolving issues and mutual concerns in water resources and river water management through bilateral consultations and technical discussions, the statement said.
The two sides have reached water sharing agreements on all the rivers except the Teesta. A pact on the Teesta has been held up since 2011 because of opposition from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Under India’s Constitution, the governments of states, through which a cross-border river flows, must sign off on water-sharing agreements with another country.
