Brahamputra | Water Beyond Borders

We need to talk about the Brahmaputra

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 09:01:58 +0000

The operational commissioning of the Zam Hydropower Station earlier this month on the Yarlung Zangbo river, also known as the Zangmu Hydropower Project, located in Gyaca county of the Shannan prefecture in China, and considered to be Tibet’s largest such facility, has raised fresh concerns in downstream India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. New Delhi had information about Beijing’s plans of developing hydropower on the Yarlung Zangbo for over five years now, with other projects such as Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu in different stages of planning/construction.

The reading of the Sino-Indian diplomatic engagement over the transboundary Yarlung Zangbo (Tsangpo)-Brahmaputra river system has largely been through the lens of suspicion and lack of information/data sharing on the shared river system. Any bilateral government-to-government interactions on the Brahmaputra are shrouded in bureaucratic secrecy, overshadowed by the baggage of the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict and the ensuing territorial contestations over Arunachal Pradesh. This strategic straightjacketing accorded to the Brahmaputra has led to basin-wide co-riparian mistrust. Read more

Courtesy: THE HINDU

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Concerned Over China’s Dam on Brahmaputra

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 08:01:58 +0000

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the reported move by China to operationalise a hydro-power station on the Brahmaputra will cause irreparable damage to Assam.

Mr Gogoi said the Assam government had all along been taking up the issue of Chinese dams on the Brahmaputra with the central government.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the matter with Chinese President during the former’s last visit to Beijing.

“Modi perhaps did not take up the matter seriously which is of vital importance to the people of Assam and the northeast,” Mr Gogoi said in a statement.

He said the fact that China had built dams on the Brahmaputra showed the central government’s casual approach.

“It is an utter failure at the highest diplomatic level to prevail upon China not to go ahead with the (dam) construction plan,” he said.

“What purpose will it serve if the bonhomie and camaraderie generated by talks could not be translated into concrete action vis-a-vis protecting India’s interests,” Mr Gogoi added.

Courtesy: NDTV

Downstream concerns on the Brahmaputra

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 06:01:58 +0000

As China’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Brahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo, became fully operational this month, it has once again evoked concerns in India. The $1.5 billion Zangmu hydroelectric dam has stoked a virtual paranoia over China’s resource choices and their likely downstream impact. But the debate has generated more heat than light. It has also unwittingly ended up being a single-issue debate, fixated on water diversion and its likely impact. But is that all there is to it?

An overwhelming focus on diversion has moved attention away from other critical issues such as water quality that India needs to raise with China. There are growing concerns over worsening environmental degradation facing Tibet’s ‘Three Rivers area’ comprising the Yarlung Tsangpo, Lhasa river and Nyangchu basins in central Tibet. One of the most intensely exploited areas in this region is the Gyama valley, situated south of the Lhasa river, with large polymetallic deposits of copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, lead and zinc. Studies by Chinese scientists are pointing to the possibility of a high content of heavy metals in the stream sediments and tailings that could pose a potential threat to downstream water users. Global warming could further accelerate the movement of these heavy metals besides projected spatial and temporal variations in water availability. By 2050, the annual runoff in the Brahmaputra is projected to decline by 14 per cent. This will have significant implications for food security and social stability, given the impact on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Read more

Courtesy: THE HINDU

Flooding worsens in Brahmaputra basin

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 05:01:58 +0000

RANGPUR, Sept 3 (BSS): The flood situation deteriorated further following inundation of more areas due to further rise of water levels of major rivers in the Brahmaputra basin in 24 hours until Thursday morning.

Officials at the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) said the major rivers were flowing above their respective danger marks (DM) at seven points and the situation might keep deteriorating in next 48 hours following continuous onrush of water from upstream areas. Read more

Courtesy: Financial Express

Govt eyes tunnel under Brahmaputra: PM

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 10:36:24 +0000

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday her government was actively considering construction of a tunnel under the Brahmaputra river to link Balashighat in Gaibandha district with Bahadurabadghat of Jamalpur district, according to our correspondent from Gaibandha.

“Feasibility study has already begun and it is going on in full swing to construct the tunnel under the river aiming to improve the communication system and reduce the pressure of traffic on the Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna”, she said.

She was speaking through video conferencing from the Ganabhaban marking inauguration of the Baradaha Bridge over the Karotoa river on the Gaibandha-Nakaihat Gobindaganj Road under Gobindaganj upazila. Read more

Courtesy: Financial Express

China to give Brahmaputra flow data to Bangladesh

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 06:16:39 +0000

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s just-concluded China visit failed to advance cooperation over transboundary rivers. A few weeks before that, China agreed to provide Bangladesh with the Brahmaputra water flow data that it already provides India

From the monsoon season this June, China will provide data on the water flow of the Brahmaputra and rainfall data in its catchment area to Bangladesh. A Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed between the countries at a meeting held in Beijing on March 24. Read more

Courtesy: thethirdpole.net

Bangladesh disputes Chinese activities on Brahmaputra

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 06:16:39 +0000

In a significant development in which India failed to take-up issues with the Chinese government, Bangladesh has dared to push the issue relating to both the neighboring countries. According to a media report Chinese government planned to construct several mega dams and hydro projects in Brahmaputra (Lohit) basin in Tibet’s Jangmu and Great Bend region. Bangladesh opposed the Chinese plan through a strong letter from Dacca to Beijing. A copy of the letter from Bangladesh’s foreign office was also sent to Bangladesh high commissioner’s office at New Delhi and Chinese embassy in Dacca. Bangladesh through this letter suggested to hold a three-party meeting among China, Bangladesh and India to discuss on this issue. In the protest letter named ‘Note Verbal’ it has been said that Brahmaputra is an international river and on this river commissioning of a 500 Megawatt Jangmu hydropower project near Arunachal Pradesh of India’s Great Bend river’s circular bend, world’s greatest hydro project’s news is in the knowledge of Bangladesh. After commissioning of 40,000 KV hydro project, Bangladesh under the lower basin would be badly affected. Bangladesh water resource minister, Ansul Islam Mehmud speaking to media persons in Dacca recently said that his country had asked the Chinese authorities to inform about the commissioning of the project and suggested to hold a three-party meeting among the three countries. Indo-Bangla Joint River Commission’s member Meer Sajjad Hussain said that Chinese authorities were asked to send ‘Note Verbal’ on this matter. Afterwards a protest note was also sent to China. Read more

Courtesy: Assam Times

‘Post dams Brahmaputra won’t be same again’

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 06:16:39 +0000

New Delhi: If all the large dams proposed by China on rivers within Tibet begin operations, the Brahmaputra river will never be the same again, warns a Canadian environmentalist who has done extensive research on the subject.

“Currently, Chinese engineers are constructing a five-dam cascade on the mid-reaches of the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra). Zhangmu Dam, with a capacity of 540 MW, has already started operation. The dam lies 86 miles southeast of Lhasa. Construction is under way on the other dams in this cascade,” says Michael Buckley. Read more

Courtesy: zee news

INDIA, CHINA AND THE MOU ON BRAHMAPUTRA – ANALYSIS

admin — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 06:16:39 +0000

India and China signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) during the Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari’s recent five-day visit to Beijing from 26 June– 1 July. One of them was on the ‘flood data’ of the Brahmaputra River – also called the Yarlung Tsangpo in China. In the past, we have heard of similar MoUs between the two neighbours on the Brahmaputra, and it is all about the sharing of the hydrological data of Brahmaputra River during monsoons. In the latest MoU on the subject that was signed on 30 June – in presence of Indian Vice President Ansari and his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao – Beijing agreed to provide 15 days’ additional hydrological data—from 15 May 15 to 15 October each year. Read more

China to let Indian experts monitor Brahmaputra in Tibet

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:16:39 +0000

China has for the first time formally agreed to allow Indian hydrological experts to conduct study tours in Tibet to monitor the flows on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, according to a new agreement signed here on Monday during the visit of Vice-President Hamid Ansari. Read more