India says the dam gates opened on their own due to excess water pressure
Floods in Bangladesh are mainly caused by water from large catchments downstream of dams
Houses, crops and animals were swept away by the strong current. People died too. 9 districts of Bangladesh were swept away by severe floods due to the opening of Dumbur Dam upstream of Gomti River in Tripura.
Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the ongoing discussion about opening the Gomti river dam in Tripura due to the ongoing flood situation in the eastern border area of India and Bangladesh is not correct.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country said that India did not open the mouth of any dam, the gates of the dam were opened automatically due to excess water pressure. This was informed in a statement on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday morning.
Besides, the statement said, “We have expressed concern in Bangladesh that the opening of Dumbur Dam upstream of the Gomti River in Tripura has led to the current flood situation in the eastern border districts of Bangladesh.” But in reality it is not correct.
They also said that for the past few days, the region adjacent to the Gomti River, which flows through India and Bangladesh, has been receiving the highest rainfall this year. And the flood in Bangladesh is mainly due to this water downstream of the dam.
The statement added that Dumbur Dam is located quite far from the border – more than 120 km upstream of Bangladesh. It is a low height (about 30 m) dam, which generates electricity and supplies it to the Indian grid, and from there Bangladesh also receives 40 MW of electricity.
The country’s foreign ministry also said, “We have three water level monitoring sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2 along about 120 km of river. Since last August 21, heavy rainfall has continued in the entire Tripura and neighboring districts of Bangladesh. As a result, automatic ‘release’ of the dam was observed due to excess water flow.
Besides, India also says that flooding in common rivers between them and Bangladesh is a joint problem, causing suffering to the people of both sides. Resolving this requires close mutual cooperation.
The statement further said that the two countries have 54 transboundary rivers, so water cooperation in rivers is an important part of our bilateral engagement. We are committed to addressing water resources and river water management issues and mutual concerns through bilateral consultations and technical discussions.
