We did not open the dam, alone opened: India

India has not opened the mouth of any dam in the eastern border region of Bangladesh, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has claimed that it has opened alone due to excess water pressure. New Delhi said this in a statement on Thursday (August 22) morning.

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.” Actually it is not correct.

According to New Delhi, the catchment area of ​​the Gomti River, which flows through India and Bangladesh, has received the highest rainfall this year for several days. Floods in Bangladesh are mainly caused by water from this large catchment downstream of the dam.

The Dumbur Dam is located far from the border – more than 120 km upstream of Bangladesh, the statement said. It is a low height (about 30 m) dam, which generates electricity and supplies it to the Indian grid and Bangladesh also receives 40 MW of electricity from there.

We have three water level monitoring sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura II along about 120 km of the river, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said. Since last August 21, heavy rainfall has continued in the entire Tripura and neighboring districts of Bangladesh. This resulted in automatic 'release' observed due to excess water flow.

The statement noted that flooding in common rivers between India and Bangladesh is a joint problem, causing suffering to the people of both sides. Resolving this requires close mutual cooperation.

“Since the two countries share 54 transboundary rivers, water cooperation between the rivers is an important part of our bilateral engagement. We are committed to addressing issues and mutual concerns of water resources and river water management through bilateral consultations and technical discussions.'

RAR/Sa.A