Fact Check: Did India cause "artificial" flooding in Bangladesh?

Many districts in eastern Bangladesh have been flooded in recent days by rain brought on by a heavy monsoon. However, there have been claims in Bangladesh and on social media that the flooding was "artificial" or exacerbated by India opening dams and barrages on rivers near the border with Bangladesh.

The floods have hit the country at a time of political turmoil. India has alleged that Hindus have been targeted in Bangladesh following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister, who has taken refuge in India.

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has been criticized for maintaining a pro-India policy, which has elicited protests, and overall tension in Bangladesh's political climate over India's relationship with Bangladesh. Floods have added fire to the already worsening relations between the two countries. and many are now blaming India for the severe flooding in the region.

However, many social media users are claiming that India has flooded Bangladesh by releasing water from the Dumbur Dam, situated in the Indian state of Tripura,  on the Gomati River that flows from India into Bangladesh. 

DW Fact check: False

Many users on social media have posted videos(archived here) of a dam releasing water, claiming it to be the Dumbur Dam in the Indian state of Tripura. However, the dam in the video is actually the Srisailam Dam, located in the Indian state of Telangana, near the temple of Srisailam. 

We have geolocated the Srisailam Dam here, and there is an old video from 2020 attached to Google Maps as well. By comparing the videos you can see that both dams look completely different. The Dumbur Dam looks like thisin a picture taken by a satellite and here is an old video of the dam taken in January 2023. 

Another clue is the weather, which looks quite good in the video, with a clear sky. However, Tripura and many parts of Bangladesh were facing heavy rain last week and the skies were cloudy in that region. 

Flooding in South Asia often occurs due to the region's shared river systems, leading to frequent blame games among the neighboring countries. Bangladesh has often accused India of causing floods in their country, especially by releasing water from the Farakka barrage, which stands on the river Ganges. India on the other hand blames Bangladesh for not having an adequate flood control system.

"Bangladesh is a flood deltaic region," Professor Ainun Nishat, a river and water management expert based in Dhaka, explained to DW. "So, we depend on flood embankments or flood dikes for managing floods in our own country. Unfortunately, these were constructed mostly in the '60s, '70s, and 1980s, and unfortunately, their maintenance has been very poor. The result is the embankment breach, and the flood enters."

"The Dumbur Dam in the Gomati River is 120 kilometers away before it reaches the Bangladesh area. Yes, they had to open the gates for the dam's safety,'' Professor Nishat said. 

"Bangladesh's sentiment against the Farakka barrage is not for the monsoon conditions. It is for the winter or dry season conditions. In the dry season, the flow becomes low, and India can divert the entire flow.'' he added.

However, this is not an issue occurring just between India and Bangladesh. Similar accusationsalso exist between India and Pakistan, although the two countries signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960. Despite the treaty, both have accusedeach other of violating it by releasing excessive water into their border areas. And India and Nepal also have water disputesover the Koshi and Mahakali rivers. The problems often occur during the monsoon season when the subcontinent faces heavy rains.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any proper agreement on the dry season water or distribution of water with India. So, Bangladesh suffers from low flow during the dry months and high flow during the monsoon months,'' Nishat explained.

Did India empty its dams on purpose?

India has claimed that no floodgates had been opened, but that excess water from the Gomti reservoir had automatically been released once it reached full capacity. But a video postedon social media platform X (archived here) challenges the claim, saying it was not automatic, but rather intentional. In the video, two men can be seen observing as one of the gates of the dam is being opened by a crane.

Claim: The water has not been released automatically. 

DW Fact check: False 

The original video was posted more than two years ago on YouTube and has more than 31 million views. The original video says it is a gate change at the Farakka Barrage, in the Indian state of West Bengal. 

We have geolocated the Farakka Barrage and there are a lot of similarities with this video. There is no resemblance to the Dumbur Dam of Tripura. Here also, we can notice clear weather with no rain, unlike the weather in the region during the alleged time of recording.

Mohammad Nahid Islam, Bangladesh's Information and Broadcasting Affairs adviser saidthat India opened a dam without issuing any prior warning and giving Bangladesh scope to prepare. 

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs released a statement claiming, "The flooding is due to waters from the catchment downstream from the dam, which is located over 120 kilometers upstream from the Bangladesh border." The statement also said that due to heavy rain since August 21, "automatic releases have been observed." 

Old videos used to represent current flooding

While lots of original pictures and videos of the ongoing flood in Bangladesh have been shared online by many people, several social media posts have also been sharing old pictures, falsely claiming they are from the recent floods in Bangladesh.

Claim: These images show areas in Bangladesh drowned in flood waters 

DW Fact check: Misleading

In one such Facebook post, a user claimed that the Noakhali district had been flooded with water and posted three pictures to support this claim. The area of the Noakhali district has been hit by flooding and now has further deteriorated due to continuous rainfall and water flowing from India.

However, not all pictures shared in the post are authentic. The first picture is from Bangladesh, but it is from Sylhet, not Noakhali, and it was taken by Getty Images in June of this year. The second picture is from the Indian state of Assam, where floods occurred in June this year. The Indian newspaper Times of India posted the same picture, which was taken by the news agency Reuters, in this article. The third picture remains unproven as it does not have enough clues to check its authenticity. 

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has warned that flood conditions could persist if the monsoon rains continue, as water levels are receding very slowly. An analysis in 2015 by the World Bank Institute estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, were at risk of annual river flooding.