People walk through a flooded road amid rain in Feni, Bangladesh, on August 22, 2024. | Photo credit: AFP
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday denied that flooding in eastern districts of Bangladesh was caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam in Tripura. The clarification came after protesters in Bangladesh blamed India for the flooding in eastern districts, threatening the security of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. Later in the day, the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh said India should be held responsible for the flooding. Pranay Verma met Chief Advisor of Interim Government of BangladeshHe met Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Mohammad Yunus and expressed “concerns” about the increasing security threats to the Indian mission and personnel based there.
“We have expressed concern to Bangladesh that the current flood situation in Bangladesh’s eastern border districts has been caused by opening of the gates of the Dumbur Dam on the Gumti River in Tripura. This is factually not correct,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Rainfall in parts of West Tripura and Bangladesh has caused flooding in the last few days and this is largely responsible for the flooding in the downstream areas of Bangladesh. The MEA statement said that the Dumbur Dam, a hydropower project, is automatically releasing water due to the rains.
Dumbanur Dam is built on the Gumti River which flows through India and Bangladesh.
Tripura has received heavy rainfall, with ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall likely over southern and western Tripura from August 19 to 22, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday.
The MEA statement stressed, “We would like to point out that the catchment areas of the Gumti River flowing through India and Bangladesh have received the heaviest rainfall of the year in the last few days. The flooding in Bangladesh is mainly due to water from these large catchment areas downstream of the dam.”
Rain has been continuing throughout Tripura and adjoining districts of Bangladesh since August 21.
“In case of heavy water flow, spontaneous leakage of water has been observed from the dam,” their release said.
Automatic release is a feature of dams that store water for power generation and is intended to ensure that the water does not exceed a certain level to ensure the stability of the reservoir.
The Amarpur station is part of a bilateral protocol under which India has been sending real-time flood data to Bangladesh.
Indian authorities had informed Bangladesh about the rising water level trend by 3 pm on August 21, 2024. However, the flow of information was disrupted due to power outage from 6 pm onwards, although India was sending flood data to Bangladesh through “other means”, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Flooding in rivers common between India and Bangladesh is a common problem, causing “suffering to people on both sides”, and requires close mutual cooperation to resolve it.
India and Bangladesh share 54 common trans-boundary rivers and river water cooperation is an important part of bilateral relations.
“We are committed to resolve mutual issues and concerns related to water resources and river water management through bilateral consultations and technical discussions,” the release said.
security threats
Mr Verma, the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, during his introductory meeting with Prof Yunus expressed “concerns” about the increasing security threats to the Indian High Commission and the personnel based there, a senior Bangladesh government official said. This information was shared during a press briefing held after the Indian envoy met Prof Yunus as some of the persistent anti-Hasina protests – online and on the streets – are also threatening Indian interests, as several eastern districts of Bangladesh were hit by severe floods, blamed by the agitators on India.
Shafiqul Alam, press secretary of the office of the Chief Adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, said, “Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma expressed concern over the security of the High Commission and Indian personnel in his meeting with Prof. Yunus.” He said the Indian envoy’s request for more comprehensive security for Indian diplomatic addresses and personnel in Bangladesh was prompted by aggressive anti-India comments made by Bangladeshi citizens on social media platforms, where they blamed Indian authorities for the floods and threatened to “march” to the High Commission. Mr. Alam said that responding to threats made against Indian interests on social media, authorities here had increased the presence of security personnel in Dhaka’s diplomatic area since Wednesday morning. Mr. Alam said the meeting between the Indian High Commissioner and Prof. Yunus took place in a “cordial atmosphere” and both sides discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties.
‘Introductory call’
The Indian High Commission declared that the meeting was an “introductory call” by Mr Verma to Prof Yunus, and said that during the meeting the Indian envoy “reiterated India’s commitment to work with Bangladesh to meet the shared aspirations of the people of India and Bangladesh for peace, security and development.” A day after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, India had withdrawn its “non-essential” staff from the High Commission as protesters began blaming India for sheltering Ms Hasina. Under the current circumstances, the request for more comprehensive security measures sent directly to Prof Yunus by the Indian envoy in the first meeting itself is being seen as “unprecedented” here.
Besides anti-India opinion on social media, there were spontaneous and widely televised protests in Dhaka on Wednesday, blaming India for the floods. This sentiment was also reflected in the comments of Nahid Islam, student adviser for information and broadcasting, who met domestic and foreign media outside Prof. Yunus’ residence at State Guest House Jamuna in the afternoon and said, “India has acted inhumanely by opening the dam [in Tripura] without any prior warning. The comments by Mr Islam and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Sayeeda Rizwana Hasan came soon after they attended an urgent meeting with Prof Yunus to discuss the floods. Later, in an off-the-record comment the hinduHowever, a senior official source said Professor Yunus was adopting a dialogue-based approach towards India and indicated that some of the aggressive comments from student representatives may have been directed at his “constituency”.