"Misleading Narrative": Foreign Ministry Blasts CNN Bangladesh Flood Report

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has once again trashed reports that the flooding in some areas of Bangladesh were caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti River in Tripura.  The Centre said that the report is "factually not correct" and its "narrative is misleading", adding that it  "ignores the facts" issued by the Government of India.

"We have seen CNN report on flood situation in Bangladesh. Its narrative is misleading and suggests that India is somehow responsible for the floods. This is factually not correct and ignores the facts mentioned in the press releases issued by the Government of India clarifying the situation," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a presser today. Mr Jaiswal was responding to media queries that flooding in southeast Bangladesh were caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti River in Tripura.

"They have also ignored that we have regular and timely exchange of data and critical information between the two countries through existing joint mechanisms for water resources management," he added.

Bangladesh is grappling with devastating floods due to relentless monsoon rain and overflowing rivers which has killed at least 23 people. Water has inundated 11 districts, and large swathes of the city of nearly 1.5 million people are now submerged. Amid this, reports in foreign media claimed that the flooding in Bangladesh has been caused by opening a dam in India's northeastern state, a claim denied by Centre twice.

What CNN Report Said?

A report published by CNN claimed that in people in Feni, a city in southeast Bangladesh, blame officials in India for the situation. According to the report, dozens in Feni -which is only a few miles from the India border- accused New Delhi of releasing water from the Dumbur dam in neighboring Tripura state with no warning.

Centre On Bangladesh Floods Claim

Centre has earlier clarified that flooding in eastern districts in the neighbouring country were not caused by the opening of a dam on the Gumti River in Tripura.

The MEA had 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.

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"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 had 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..."

"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 MEA said in a statement.

Floods on the common rivers between India and Bangladesh are a shared problem inflicting sufferings to people on both sides, and requires close mutual cooperation towards resolving them, it added. 

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