India said reports claiming the current flood situation in certain parts of Bangladesh been caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti river in Tripura are incorrect. The Ministry of External Affairs said floods in the common rivers between the two countries are a 'shared' problem inflicting sufferings to people on both sides
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha inspects a flood-affected area after heavy rains, on the outskirts of Agartala, on Thursday. Tripura and parts of Bangladesh have been witnessing heavy rains since Wednesday. Pic/PTI
India on Thursday said that reports in Bangladesh claiming that the current flood situation in certain parts of the country has been caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti river in Tripura are factually incorrect.
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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that floods in the common rivers between the two countries are a "shared" problem as they inflict sufferings to people on both sides of the border and requires close mutual cooperation to resolve it.
"We have seen concerns being expressed in Bangladesh that the current situation of flood in districts on the eastern borders of Bangladesh has been caused by opening of the Dumbur dam upstream of the Gumti river in Tripura. This is factually not correct," the ministry said, adding, "We would like to point out that the catchment areas of the Gumti river that flows through India and Bangladesh have witnessed heaviest rains of this year over the last few days."
MEA added that the flood in Bangladesh has been caused primarily owing to the waters from the large catchments downstream of the dam.
The Dumbur dam is located far away from the border – more than 120 km upstream of Bangladesh – the ministry said in a statement.
"It is a low-height (about 30 metres) dam that generates power that feeds into a grid and from which Bangladesh also draws 40MW power from Tripura," the MEA noted.
"Along the about 120-km river course, we have three water-level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2," it said.
Tripura and the districts of Bangladesh adjoining the border have been witnessing heavy rainfall since Wednesday.
According to MEA, in the event of heavy inflow, automatic releases have been observed. The ministry further said that the Amarpur station is a 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 hours on August 21. At 1800 hours, due to flooding, there was power outage, leading to problems of communication," it said.
"Still, we have tried to maintain communication through other means created for urgent transmission of data," it noted.
The ministry said the two neighbours share 54 common cross-border rivers, and river-water cooperation is an important part of the bilateral engagement.
"We remain committed to resolving issues and mutual concerns in water resources and river water management through bilateral consultations and technical discussions," it said.
(With PTI inputs)
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