Unprecedented Floods Fuel Bangladesh-India Tension

[ghazi52]

Not an ordinary flood​

Anger is now rising among the flood victims in Bangladesh about the source of the water that flooded their homes.

Pranay Verma, India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, told Bangladesh’s interim government an “automatic release” occurred at the dam due to high water levels, according to the interim government’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam.

But some believe politics played a part.

“India displayed inhumanity by opening the dam without warning,” said Nahid Islam, one of the two student representatives in Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Three weeks ago, Bangladesh ejected its long-standing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after a student-led protest movement against job quotas morphed into a nationwide movement to force her out of power when she ordered a bloody crackdown, killing hundreds of people.

Hasina fled by helicopter to India on August 5, after tens of thousands of people marched on the capital and her residence. During her 15 years in power, Hasina formed strong ties with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is now serving a rare third term.

After her ouster, reports emerged of reprisal attacks against people viewed as loyal to Hasina’s party – many of them Hindus – which sparked major concern in neighboring Hindu-majority India.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in statement Thursday that it was “factually not correct” to blame the flooding on water released from Dumbur dam.

It said flooding in Bangladesh was “primarily” due to water flowing from large catchment areas on the Gumti River, downstream from the dam.

“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,” the statement said.

‘They’re very scared’​

As the diplomatic row builds, rescue teams are working around the clock in the flood zone – where every rescue operation is a huge logistical challenge.

What would usually be a four-hour drive from Dhaka is double that on the gridlocked roads as rescue workers and volunteers try to access the flood region from all over the country. Boats are hard to come by – so many families arrive to retrieve their relatives but then have no way to reach them.

“I’m helpless because I don’t have a boat,” said Yasin Arafat, 24, who came from Dhaka to try to reach his father, mother, grandmother and younger brother.

Yasin Arafat came from Dhaka to find his family but couldn't source a boat to rescue them.

CNN/Rebecca Wright

He has heard there are 35 families clinging to a rooftop in his village, including two pregnant women. But it’s a three-hour boat ride from the city and he can’t find a rescue boat to take him there.

“They have no water, no food, and they’re very scared,” he said. “In the last 48 hours, I haven’t had any news.”

Even when people can source a boat, there are sections of the city on higher ground – including the railway track – where the vessels need to carried manually by dozens of volunteers.

The main highway through Feni has now turned into its main waterway – and is being used as the central route for people to make it to dry land.

Some of the people able to walk out are wading through waist- or chest-high muddy water – risking water-borne diseases, snakes or drowning to try to reach safety.

Residents of Feni in Bangladesh walk to higher ground after severe flooding.
CNN/Salman Saeed

 

[Strider]

Spreading fake news then whine about it pointlessly is what you lot been doing for the past few days. These was a flash floods. Dams were not opened rather spillways were overflowing to protect the dam. This happens automatically. For flood alerts look at the internet even google alerts you on flood situations in nearby rivers. All your ministers (or whatever thing exist now) had to do was check the internet. Dam status is updated every day. Instead of covering up your inability you blame India. More people died on Indian side, and on any day I would give priority to this over deaths in Bangladesh. You're only entitled to the warnings we receive beforehand. Nothing above and beyond what's necessary.

I am not sure your tone is going to help.

Tell us, what is timeframe of those flood alerts on the Internet? You know it'll take some time for making the necessary preps to evacuate the impacted areas? Or are you really that dense?

Tell us the timeframe and if there was sufficient time and I will share your feedback with the chief advisors. Deal?

 

[Strider]

Great post...... since this so called revolution last month Bangladeshis are trying to play victims on each and everything..... can't see how themselves they're unable to run their country properly..... no wonder they only depend on sewing.....

Like it or not, it was a significant event removing your maid servant. We can take care of ourselves.

Just don't get in the way.

 

[Vikramaditya1]

I am afraid that BD has been sitting on its own backside for decades and not creating proper river management in such a wet and lowland country.

Yes some people would need to be moved off their farms, villages and towns but there is little choice here and ultimately being able to control the flow of water would have economic benefits as lost cheap grain production is replaced by more expensive fisheries production. Not to forget the GWs of clean and cheap electricity that would be generated as the water is released through the dams during most the year when the water levels are low.

Maybe India could have been a bit more helpful in terms of notice but the ultimate responsibility is on BD.

BD needs to learn to help itself before laying blame elsewhere as only BD should care about BD and no-one else.

It probably has to do with geography than inability of government. Large reservoir require swathes of area, hilly terrains with ample forest and land to cover for the catchment area for dam, which can and will go under water. Such regions are rare in BD coupled with high sedimentation in Himalayan rivers makes it hard and expensive for dams.

Also if you look at the map of flood warnings (available on Google) the downpour happened at night that caused the flooding in Tripura and downstream resulting in a lot of deaths. That's why a lot of people (in BD) mistakenly thought India opened dams at night in fact the rains and floodings were in the lower regions of the dam causing the flood situation.
What you need is a disaster management committee. We get flood alerts on our phones beforehand in our local languages. By then rescue efforts begin, state and central rapid action force are deployed in affected regions. Even then a lot of people die from either land slides or drowning. Not one person or organization is responsible for it. It's a series of unfortunate situations.

 

[nahtanbob]

I am afraid that BD has been sitting on its own backside for decades and not creating proper river management in such a wet and lowland country.

Yes some people would need to be moved off their farms, villages and towns but there is little choice here and ultimately being able to control the flow of water would have economic benefits as lost cheap grain production is replaced by more expensive fisheries production. Not to forget the GWs of clean and cheap electricity that would be generated as the water is released through the dams during most the year when the water levels are low.

Maybe India could have been a bit more helpful in terms of notice but the ultimate responsibility is on BD.

BD needs to learn to help itself before laying blame elsewhere as only BD should care about BD and no-one else.

The easiest solution to flood control is to build reservoirs and levees/river embankments. I am not sure why Bangladeshis won't build them

 

[Vikramaditya1]

I am not sure your tone is going to help.

Tell us, what is timeframe of those flood alerts on the Internet? You know it'll take some time for making the necessary preps to evacuate the impacted areas? Or are you really that dense?

Tell us the timeframe and if there was sufficient time and I will share your feedback with the chief advisors. Deal?

Is your tone(not you in particular) helping? The people in power, especially the new student leaders are straight out putting the blame on India which is fanning flames on both sides. The governments on both sides will go where the public opinion goes. This current government is very shaky and they will make diplomatic relations difficult for all sides.

As for the time frame. Think about it, is flooding only in Bangladesh, or deaths only in Bangladesh and Indians are all safe and sound? Government don't run like a well oiled machine, the states control dams and water they may not directly communicate with BD. They give out status report once a day. The flood in Tripura was the result of a cloud burst. The rainfall received was record in 30-40 years. What would you expect to happen?
You want a warning that people in Tripura who died never received.

 

[nahtanbob]

India probably purposely opened the flood gates to punish and target Bangladesh

This is the type of enemy we have been warning Bangladesh about for years

It's why preparing against this enemy is so important it's why China is so important for south Asia because we all have this common enemy

Rich advice coming from someone whose ancestors ruled Bangladesh for 24 years and did nothing for them

 

[UKBengali]

It probably has to do with geography than inability of government. Large reservoir require swathes of area, hilly terrains with ample forest and land to cover for the catchment area for dam, which can and will go under water. Such regions are rare in BD coupled with high sedimentation in Himalayan rivers makes it hard and expensive for dams.

Also if you look at the map of flood warnings (available on Google) the downpour happened at night that caused the flooding in Tripura and downstream resulting in a lot of deaths. That's why a lot of people (in BD) mistakenly thought India opened dams at night in fact the rains and floodings were in the lower regions of the dam causing the flood situation.
What you need is a disaster management committee. We get flood alerts on our phones beforehand in our local languages. By then rescue efforts begin, state and central rapid action force are deployed in affected regions. Even then a lot of people die from either land slides or drowning. Not one person or organization is responsible for it. It's a series of unfortunate situations.

Sylhet has these perfect conditions and is one of the least dense regions of BD, with 6% of the population but 10-11% of the land area of BD.

Look at the messing around with Teesta River Project for over a decade that would have cost less than 1 billion US dollars to implement and would have done so much for NW BD region.

Face it, most of BD's problems are self-inflicted at what can be done is not done first. After this is done, then all fair to look at others to blame.

 

[Vikramaditya1]

Sylhet has these perfect conditions and is one of the least dense regions of BD, with 6% of the population but 10-11% of the land area of BD.

Look at the messing around with Teesta River Project for over a decade that would have cost less than 1 billion US dollars to implement and would have done so much for NW BD region.

Face it, most of BD's problems are self-inflicted at what can be done is not done first. After this is done, then all fair to look at others to blame.

But Sylhet is in Eastern BD. Not many major rivers flow through that region. Especially in this particular case, the flood affected region is close to Tripura.
Maybe, I don't expect any country in the region to run like Sweden or Denmark. Slow Government and burocracy is a norm.

 

[Strider]

Is your tone(not you in particular) helping? The people in power, especially the new student leaders are straight out putting the blame on India which is fanning flames on both sides. The governments on both sides will go where the public opinion goes. This current government is very shaky and they will make diplomatic relations difficult for all sides.

As for the time frame. Think about it, is flooding only in Bangladesh, or deaths only in Bangladesh and Indians are all safe and sound? Government don't run like a well oiled machine, the states control dams and water they may not directly communicate with BD. They give out status report once a day. The flood in Tripura was the result of a cloud burst. The rainfall received was record in 30-40 years. What would you expect to happen?
You want a warning that people in Tripura who died never received.

That does not answer the question. These must be sorted out in time.

 

[UKBengali]

But Sylhet is in Eastern BD. Not many major rivers flow through that region. Especially in this particular case, the flood affected region is close to Tripura.
Maybe, I don't expect any country in the region to run like Sweden or Denmark. Slow Government and burocracy is a norm.

There was massive floods in Sylhet just back in June that affected 2 million people.

My point is what can be done has not been done.

If you can reduce the impact by 50%, then it needs to have been done.

Personally I do not like these "student representatives". Immature and lack of experience who should not be talking about things like this as it is beyond their knowledge and judgement. They should just be representing their demographics views in government and that is all.

 

[Cryptonian]

I am not sure your tone is going to help.

Tell us, what is timeframe of those flood alerts on the Internet? You know it'll take some time for making the necessary preps to evacuate the impacted areas? Or are you really that dense?

Tell us the timeframe and if there was sufficient time and I will share your feedback with the chief advisors. Deal?

India and BD have a treaty in which India shares live water level data of the near border dam/barages.
Has Bangladeshi bureaucrats/ govt officials made any statement about them not being aware of water level and rainfall??

 

[MH.Yang]

If the Indian govt is using dams to release floodwaters to punish the Bengalis, then it is a crime against humanity without any doubt.

 

[Saudang]

As if India has nothing better to do than punish Bangladesh by opening the floodgates! We don't even do that to our worst enemy, Pakistan, so the idea that we'd do it to Bangladesh is pure fantasy. The reality is that Northeast India has seen unprecedented rainfall in the last few days, and the downstream river systems were inevitably going to flood. If Bangladesh doesn’t have a properly functioning flood warning system, well, that's not India's problem. Maybe it’s time to learn to manage your own issues—or hey, just merge with India as a state, and we’ll take care of everything for you

 

[Pingle]

Rich advice coming from someone whose ancestors ruled Bangladesh for 24 years and did nothing for them

And killed 3 lacs before leaving....