Bangladesh recently blamed the Indian government for the floods in Bangladesh. Mohammad Nahid Islam, an adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, alleged that India opened the sluice gates of the Dumbur dam, located upstream on the Gumti River in Tripura, without warning. In this context, a video showing water gushing from the gates of a dam is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). The claim accompanying the video suggests that it depicts the Dumbur dam in Tripura. Additionally, the claim alleges that India has opened the dam’s gates without warning, causing severe flooding in Bangladesh.
Claim: Video shows the Dumbur dam in Tripura.
Fact: The visuals in the viral video show the Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh. The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
According to reports (here, here, here, and here), Bangladesh is experiencing flooding in 11 districts in the eastern part of the country, affecting at least 2 million people and causing deaths. Bangladesh blamed the disaster on India’s operation of the Dumbur dam on the Gomti River in Tripura. On 22 August 2024, India’s Ministry of External Affairs called this ‘factually incorrect’ and clarified that the floods affecting several districts in eastern Bangladesh were not caused by the release of water from the Dumbur dam in Tripura, as has been claimed by some social media accounts. Bangladeshi media outlets have also linked the visuals in the viral video to the Dumbur dam in Tripura (here, here, here).
To gather information about the dam featured in the viral video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using keyframes from the video. This search led us to several YouTube videos(here, here, here, and here) with similar visuals. According to the descriptions of these videos, the dam shown is the Srisailam dam, located in Andhra Pradesh across the Krishna River.
By conducting a relevant keyword search on the internet, we found an ETV Bharat news report published on 30 July 2024, featuring visuals similar to those in the viral video. According to the report, the gates of the Srisailam Reservoir were opened due to heavy inflows in July 2024. During this search, we also found a photo on the image stock website Alamy that features visuals similar to those in the viral video. The description of the photo also indicates that it shows the Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh. Based on this information, it is evident that the visuals in the viral video depict the Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, visuals of the Dumbur Hydroelectric Project in Tripura (here, here) also prove that the visuals in the viral video do not show the Dumbur dam.
Furthermore, we geolocated the Srisailam dam on Google Maps. The visuals in the viral video are identical to those of the Srisailam dam. A comparison of the visuals from the viral video with photos of the Srisailam dam on Google Maps can be seen below:
To sum up, a video of the Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh is being falsely shared as the visuals of Tripura’s Dumbur dam.
