New Delhi: Bangladesh has been reeling under floods for some time and recent reports originating from there have blamed neighbour India for this situation. Bangladesh said that the current flood in districts on the eastern borders of the country have been caused by opening of the Dumbur dam upstream of the Gumti River in Tripura. Now India has raised strong objections to any such claims and clarified that the facts are completely different.
MEA denies charge, counters Bangladesh
The MEA in a statement said that the statements made by Bangladesh were not “factually correct”. The Ministry pointed out that the catchment areas of Gumti river that flows through India and Bangladesh witnessed very heavy rains this year, and the last few days have seen unusually high rains.
Bangladesh is basically witnessing floods due to the accumulation of water from these large catchments downstream of the dam, said the Ministry. They said that heavy rains have been continuously witnessed since August 21 in the whole of Tripura and also some districts of Bangladesh. Therefore due to heavy inflow, automatic releases have been observed.
The Dumbur dam is located far from the border and both India and Bangladesh utilise its facilities. In fact Bangladesh draws at least 40 MW power from the grid which works because of this dam. There are three water level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2. Amarpur station is part of a bilateral protocol under which we are transmitting real time flood data to Bangladesh, said the MEA.
India said that floods are a common problem for both countries and inflict the same sufferings upon the people. The problem needs to be tackled through mutual cooperation, said the Ministry spokesperson.
There are a total of 54 common cross-border rivers between India and Bangladesh and maritime cooperation is definitely needed between the 2 neighbours. India said that they want to resolve all issues through mutual cooperation and bilateral talks.
Floods in Tripura
Meanwhile the northeastern state of Tripura is also witnessing devastating floods. Landslides and floods in the state led to the deaths of 10 people and 1 person is also missing. At least 32,750 people are staying in relief camps across the state.
NDRF teams have reached the state and are providing support to the state administration in rescue and relief work. Most rivers are overflowing and a red alert has been announced for West Tripura by the weather department.