India opened 109 gates of Farakka Barrage
India has opened 109 gates of Farakka Barrage located in Maldah and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal after Dumbur Dam in Tripura. As a result, 11 lakh cusecs of water will enter Bangladesh in one day.
On Monday (August 26) afternoon, Tariqul Islam, a former member of Panka Union of Shibganj Upazila of Chapainawabganj, confirmed the opening of India's Farakka Gate.
Former member Mohammad Tariqul Islam said that they came to know about the opening of 109 gates in Farakka. But it still has no effect. After 10 o'clock in the night the matter of water rise will be known.
The barrage authorities said that the states of Bihar and Jharkhand are under water pressure due to floods. But it is a matter of relief that no hills have descended from Nepal yet. In Farakka barrage area, the gate has to be opened as the water is flowing 77.34 meters above the danger level. In that case, the amount of water in the feeder canal has also been increased.
General Manager of Farakka Barrage R. Desh Pande said, Farakka Barrage authorities are always on alert. Every moment is being monitored. As the water pressure built up in a very short period of time, all the 109 gates were not opened, creating a huge pressure on the barrage. This could have caused great damage. For now, 40,000 cusecs of water has been released in the feeder canal and 11 lakh cusecs in the downstream.
Meanwhile, the eastern part of Bangladesh is hit by flash floods caused by torrential rains and landslides from upstream. Lakhs of people have been displaced by the floods. At least 23 people have lost their lives, including the children.
Allegedly, this flash flood was caused by the opening of the Dambur hydropower project in the Indian state of Tripura. But the country's government is saying otherwise.
India's Ministry of External Affairs has claimed that the catchment area of the Gomti River, which flows between India and Bangladesh, has received the highest rainfall of the year for the past few days. Floods in Bangladesh are mainly caused by water from this large catchment downstream of the dam.