Tripura has been reeling under flood-related incidents and landslides since Sunday, 18 August. According to official reports, around 10 people have died and more than 30,000 have been displaced.
“Due to excessive rainfall since Sunday, the water level in all major rivers has already crossed the danger mark, flooding several areas. Ten people have been killed in landslides and flood-related incidents since Sunday. Altogether, 32,750 people have taken shelter in 330 relief camps”, a government release said on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and assessed the flood situation in the state. He also assured of all possible assistance from the Centre as and when required. The Centre is rushing teams of NDRF, along with boats and helicopters, to the state to assist the local government in relief and rescue operations.
Spoke with CM Tripura, @DrManikSaha2 Ji, and took stock of the flood situation in the state. The Centre is rushing teams of NDRF, apart from boats and helicopters, to the state to assist the local government in relief and rescue operations. Assured of all possible assistance from…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 22, 2024
Amit Shah posted on X, “Spoke with CM Tripura, Dr Manik Saha and took stock of the flood situation in the state. The Centre is rushing teams of NDRF, apart from boats and helicopters, to the state to assist the local government in relief and rescue operations. Assured of all possible assistance from the Centre as and when required. The Modi government firmly stands with our sisters and brothers in Tripura during this hour of crisis.”
Chief Minister Manik Saha said the flood in the state was “unprecedented” while speaking to the media on 21 August.
“Unprecedented flood in the state. We are monitoring the situation closely. District Magistrates have been asked to render all possible help to the affected people,” he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement regarding concerns in Bangladesh that the current flood situation in districts on Bangladesh’s eastern borders has been caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam upstream of the Gumti River in Tripura. This is factually not correct.
Flood situation in Bangladesh not due to release of waters from Indian dam on Gumti River, Tripura:https://t.co/8hcnRkoBF1 pic.twitter.com/p5zY0LII7D
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) August 22, 2024
The Ministry of External Affairs issued the statement, “We would like to point out that the catchment areas of Gumti river that flows through India and Bangladesh have witnessed heaviest rains of this year over the last few days. The flood in Bangladesh is primarily due to waters from these large catchments downstream of the dam.
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.
Along the about 120 Km river course we have three water level observation sites at Amarpur, Sonamura and Sonamura 2.
Heavy rainfall has been continuing since 21 August in the whole of Tripura and adjoining districts of Bangladesh. In the event of heavy inflow, automatic releases have been observed.
Amarpur station is in part of a bilateral protocol under which we are transmitting realtime flood data to Bangladesh.”
The statement continues to highlight that floods on the common rivers between India and Bangladesh are a shared problem inflicting suffering on people on both sides and require close mutual cooperation to resolve.
