Centre is carefully monitoring developments: MEA on China's dam over Brahmaputra

NEW DELHI: India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today said that it is monitoring China's building of a dam over the Brahmaputra river and has taken note of media reports about the same.

"Government has been carefully monitoring developments. Conveyed concerns to Chinese authorities. Chinese have conveyed that they are undertaking run of the river hydropower projects which do not involve water diversion," the MEA said in a release.

According to reports in the media, China will be building a hydropower project on the Brahmaputra river (Yarlung Zangbo river) in Tibet, and a company has put forward this proposal for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

The Power Construction Corp of China, or POWERCHINA, a company involved in the making of the dam, informed that the project could serve to maintain water resources and China’s national security, Chinese official media Global Times reported.

“There is no parallel in history…it will be a historic opportunity for the Chinese hydropower industry,” Yan Zhiyong, chairman of the Power Construction Corp of China said at the 40th anniversary of the founding of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering.

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The Brahmaputra river (Yarlung Zangbo river) has the richest water resources in Tibet, about 80 million kilowatt-hours (kWh). Whereas the 50-kilometre section of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon has 70 million kWh that could be developed with a 2,000-meter drop, which equals more than three gorges power stations in Hubei province.

The project will play an important role in realising China’s goal of reaching a carbon emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060, Zhiyong said. The hydropower station could generate income of 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) annually for the Tibet Autonomous Region, he further added.

It is a project for national security, including water resources and domestic security, he said, noting that the project will also smooth cooperation with South Asia. The hydropower station could generate income of 20 billion yuan (USD three billion) annually for the Tibet Autonomous Region, he said.

India and China established Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers.

Under existing bilateral Memorandums of Understanding, China provides hydrological information of Brahmaputra River and Sutlej River to India during the flood seasons. Under the arrangement, China provides flood season data of the Brahmaputra river between May 15 and October 15 every year.

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