People move through a flooded road after persistent rains in Feni, a coastal district in southeastern Bangladesh bordering Tripura, on Thursday (August 22, 2024). | Photo credit: AP

Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Prof. Mohammad Yunus met Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma on Thursday (22 August 2024) in what the Indian side described as a “normal discussion”. The meeting came minutes after Prof. Yunus met his senior counterparts over the unprecedented floods in Bangladesh's eastern districts, for which his government blames India for releasing water from neighbouring Tripura without “warning”. The meeting was scheduled for 4:30 pm Bangladesh time.

Information and broadcasting consultant Nahid Islam said India behaved inhumanely by releasing water without warning, during a meeting with the media in Dhaka.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (22 August 2024) denied reports that floods had occurred in the eastern districts of Bangladesh caused by the opening of the Dumbur Dam in Tripura.

West Tripura and parts of Bangladesh have been inundated by rains in recent days, which have largely been responsible for the floods in downstream Bangladesh. The Dumbur Dam, a hydroelectric project, has released water “autonomously” as a result of the rains, their statement said.

The Dumbnur Dam is a hydroelectric project built on the Gumti River, which flows through India and Bangladesh.

Heavy rains have continued across Tripura and neighboring districts of Bangladesh since August 21. Incessant monsoon rains and floods have stranded nearly three million people in Bangladesh, killed two, inundated vast areas and damaged homes and infrastructure, officials from the country's disaster management department said on Thursday.