The monsoons in South Asia bring regular flooding to the region. In recent years, these floods have been exacerbated by rampant and unsustainable construction across the hilly north and northeast. Today, eastern Bangladesh and northeastern India are victims of this development.
Bangladesh’s floods come right after a momentous political revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League. This has caused a rift with India, the regional hegemon. India controls the headwaters of most rivers flowing from the Himalayas into Bangladesh. As part of its own drive to exploit the natural resources of the region, India embarked on massive dam-building projects right after independence. This development did not slow down but accelerated in the last 20 years, displacing hundreds of thousands and causing millions to suffer the consequences of unscientific, greed-driven development.
Today, a toxic combination of cutthroat geopolitics, climate change, and unbridled capitalist development has resulted in devastating floods across eastern Bangladesh.
Floods in Tripura:
Southern and western Tripura experienced extreme rainfall between the 19th and 22nd of August, which caused flooding and landslides. Since Monday, at least 12 people have been reported dead, with over 1.7 million displaced.
A bulletin reported that Tripura recorded the highest amount of rainfall in the past 24 hours. Bogafa in South Tripura reported 493 mm of rainfall, and Sonamura in Sephijala registered 293 mm.
One of the worst-affected areas is around the banks of the Gumti River, where the Dumbur Dam is built. Excess rainfall caused the river to overflow its banks and flood nearby areas. The dam itself was built with a mechanism for automatic release when its reservoir overflows beyond 94 meters.
The reservoir was opened once the water crossed the danger zone, releasing more water into the already flooded riverbanks. This water added to the woes of Chittagong district and Comilla city in Bangladesh, which are suffering the aftereffects of flooding further upstream.
The National Disaster Relief Force has mobilized hundreds of personnel to oversee evacuations and relief measures. Currently, about 65,000 people are in relief camps spread across Tripura.
Floods in Bangladesh
The northeastern region of Bangladesh borders the Indian states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. These states have been affected by heavy rains, and flooding from there has flowed into Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s eastern districts were already suffering from heavy rainfall and flooding when the situation reached a critical level in Tripura.
On the 19th, excessive rainfall caused the Dumbur Dam reservoir to overflow. The dam has an automatic mechanism whereby excess water is released into the Gumti River. The dam is located 120 kilometers north of the Bangladesh border, but the Gumti River flows into Bangladesh’s Chittagong district. The excess water flowed into lower ground in Bangladesh, worsening the flood situation.
Up to 3 million people in Bangladesh have been affected, and a death toll of between 2 and 10 people is being reported so far. Relief efforts are underway, with the worst-affected districts being Chittagong (Chattogram) and Comilla city.
The Political Tussle Over Water
Bangladesh is cursed by geography more so than any other place in South Asia. The plan for partition saw Muslim and Hindu majority regions of the former British Raj territories being separated into two independent dominions, with no regard for cultural, linguistic, or geographic distinctions or similarities. The result in the east was the creation of what was essentially a large enclave in the form of East Pakistan, cut off from West Pakistan and surrounded on three sides by India. The only other border that Bangladesh has is a tiny strip of land with Myanmar/Burma, connected with Rakhine state.
To the north is India, and to the south are the waters of the Bay of Bengal. To many Bangladeshis, it might quite literally seem like they are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, especially when it comes to the control of rivers.
The communal logic of partition was not followed consistently, especially in Bengal, where Buddhist and Hindu majority provinces like Khulna, Sylhet, and Chittagong were given over to Pakistan, while Muslim majority provinces like Malda and Murshidabad remained on the Indian side. The reason? India wished to retain control over the headwaters of the Ganges River flowing east into Bangladesh and south into Calcutta. To compensate for the loss of Murshidabad and Malda, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet were given over to Pakistan.
India’s northeast had its own struggles, with states like Manipur and Nagaland attempting to raise their own banners of independence, only for India to intervene and crush these movements before they could gain traction. Control over the northeast was vital to exploit the mineral riches of the region and its hydroelectric power potential. Part of this involved the construction of dams, extensive infrastructure development, and more housing to accommodate a larger migrant population.
The result of these developments was the degradation of soil due to the loss of tree cover, adding to vulnerabilities caused by global climate change. In the state of Assam, for instance, unscientific construction of levees disturbed the natural flow of the Brahmaputra River. While the city of Guwahati and wealthier suburban areas were defended from floods, poorer regions were left more vulnerable.
Assam is once again witnessing floods during the monsoon, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s response is that the state is being subjected to a ‘flood jihad.’ A scapegoat is being made of a college built by Mahbub Hoque, which was constructed by redeveloping hill land, never mind how he obtained clearance from his government or the dozens of other such building projects that have sprung up across Assam.
Tripura, which is also under a BJP government, is seeing similar disdain for environmental protection. Rampant development, unscientific infrastructure development, and the lopsided situation caused by partition borders have contributed to fueling two disasters simultaneously: floods ravaging both Tripura and Bangladesh.
A Challenge for the New Government
The youth of Bangladesh fought to overthrow a brutal dictatorship and have now established a new interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus. The floods represent a significant challenge for this new government.
Many in Bangladesh blame India for deliberately opening the dam reservoir and releasing excess water into Bangladesh. The Indian External Affairs Ministry has stated that there was no deliberate opening of the reservoir gates. There were efforts to warn the downstream region of Bangladesh about the impending flooding, but a communication failure reportedly occurred in the afternoon when the waters reached crisis levels.
The automatic mechanism of the dam was initiated, resulting in massive flooding downriver within Tripura and beyond into Bangladesh.
It must be noted that the dam is not part of the Indo-Bangladesh water-sharing protocols, which cover water sharing for rivers flowing into Bangladesh. The warning system, as it existed, was entirely managed by the local administrations.
Whether India deliberately opened the gates or not is a moot point. The larger question is one of dependency, inequality, and unpreparedness in the face of climate change. Bangladesh is cursed by geography, made worse by unfavorable boundaries drawn by the bourgeoisies of India and Pakistan. The situation is only worsened by climate change, largely caused by imperialist nations and locally exacerbated by reckless capitalist development in the Eastern Himalayas.
India’s quest to exploit the resources of the Himalayas is pushing ahead with a developmental model that causes suffering for both its own people and those of Bangladesh, all for the sake of profits for a few. This crisis requires solidarity between the people on both sides.
Reactionaries within Bangladesh are ignorant of this larger picture and attempt to exploit the emotions unleashed by the revolution against Sheikh Hasina to legitimize themselves. Reactionaries within India attempt to find scapegoats among minorities to protect their own interests. In the end, it’s the people who suffer.
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