New Delhi: Flooding in the eastern districts of Bangladesh - which is facing political turmoil after violent protests forced Sheikh Hasina to resign as Prime Minister and flee to India - were not caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti River in Tripura, the government clarified Thursday.
The External Affairs Ministry acknowledged "the catchment areas of Gumti River that flows through India and Bangladesh witnessed heaviest rains of this year over the last few days", but said the floods in Bangladesh were mainly due to waters from downstream catchments areas.
"The Dumbur dam is located quite far from the border - over 120 km upstream of Bangladesh. It is a low height (about 30m) dam that generates power that feeds into a grid and from which Bangladesh also draws 40MW power from Tripura," the ministry said.
"Heavy rainfall has been continuing since August 21 in the whole of Tripura and adjoining districts of Bangladesh. Data showing rising trend has been supplied to Bangladesh till 1500 on August 21. At 1800, due to flooding, there was power outage leading to problems of communication... we tried to maintain communication through other means..."
Heavy rains in the region have also led to floods on the Indian side of the border - in Tripura.
More than 34,000 people have been displaced so far due to the floods in the northeastern state.
READ | 10 Dead, Several Missing, 34,000 Displaced After Flash Floods In Tripura
Officials said on Wednesday that at least nine people, including three members of a family, were killed and two others were injured in separate incidents of landslides and drowning following incessant rain. Officials also said most of the state's prominent rivers were flowing above critical levels while the main river - Gumti - had crossed the 'extreme danger level'.
The weather department on Tuesday said the heavy rains were the result of a low-pressure area persisting over central parts of Bangladesh and the neighbouring region.
Over in Bangladesh, multiple deaths have been reported due to the floods, which have affected eight districts - Sunamganj, Maulvibazar, Habiganj, Feni, Chittagong, Noakhali, Comilla, and Khagrachari - according to local media reports.