The current flood situation in Bangladesh is not due to the release of water from the dam on the Gumti River in Tripura, India, according to a statement released by the neighboring country today (22 August).

"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," stated the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

The statement clarified that the catchment areas of the Gumti River, which flows through both India and Bangladesh, have experienced the heaviest rainfall of the year in recent days. The resulting flood in Bangladesh is primarily due to the water from these large catchment areas downstream of the dam.

The Dumbur dam, located over 120 km upstream from the Bangladesh border, is a low-height dam (approximately 30 meters) that generates power, with Bangladesh drawing 40MW of power from Tripura.

"Along the about 120 Km river course we have three water level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura, and Sonamura 2," the statement added.

Heavy rainfall has been ongoing since 21 August across Tripura and the adjacent districts of Bangladesh. Automatic releases of water have occurred in response to heavy inflows, the statement said.

The Amarpur station is part of a bilateral protocol, under which real-time flood data is transmitted to Bangladesh.

"Data showing a rising trend has been supplied to Bangladesh up to 3 pm on 21 August. At 1800 hrs, due to flooding, there was a power outage leading to communication problems. Still, we have tried to maintain communication through other means created for urgent transmission of data," the statement noted.

The statement also highlighted that floods on the common rivers between India and Bangladesh are a shared issue, causing suffering on both sides, and emphasized the need for close mutual cooperation to address the problem.

"As two countries sharing 54 common cross-border rivers, river water cooperation is an important part of our bilateral engagement.

"We remain committed to resolving issues and mutual concerns in water resources and river water management through bilateral consultations and technical discussions," the statement concluded.

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