Amid the concerns in Bangladesh over the flood situation there, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that the flooding issue there is not caused by the release of waters from the Indian dam on Gumti River in Tripura.
“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,” an official statement issued by the ministry said
It added that the claim is not factually correct. It added that the catchment areas of the river have faced heaviest rains this year. “The flood in Bangladesh is primarily due to waters from these large catchments downstream of the dam.”
‘Dumbur dam far from border’
The MEA statement also pointed out that the Dumbur dam lies quite far from the border, over 120 kilometre upstream of Bangladesh. The dam, approximately 30 meters high, generates electricity that feeds into the grid, supplying 40 MW of power to Bangladesh from Tripura.
“Along the about 120 km river course we have three water level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2,” it added.
The MEA issued a statement in response to media reports alleging that the opening of the gates of the Dumbur hydroelectric project caused flooding in Bangladesh.
According to a report by the Dhaka Times, the opening of the gates at the Dumbur project in Tripura has led to flooding in the bordering districts of Cumilla, Brahmanbaria, and Feni. Bangladeshi officials reportedly confirmed to the publication that New Delhi did not inform Dhaka about actions taken in Tripura that significantly affected communities across the border.