India Fears Reduction in Water Flow Due To China’s Mega Dam Project

INDIA: According to the sources and Governmental analysis of the Chinese project, India can face a reduction in water flow in the major river by upto 85 per cent in the dry season due to the Chinese project. India is asked to take precautionary steps to avoid the project’s side effects.

India’s fear and a plan to construct a dam:

Since 2000, the Indian government has allegedly been planning to construct a dam to control the water flow from Tibet’s Angsi Glacier. However, the people there restrict them from doing so. People in Arunachal Pradesh stopped the government and feared that constructing such dams could ruin their lives.

In December, China openly expressed its plan to construct the world’s largest hydropower plant. China wants to build a dam near the border just before the Yarlung Zangbo River crosses into India.

The very river is known as the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers in India and Bangladesh. Angci Glacier has a source in the Brahmaputra River. India fears that China could weaponise the control of the river.

In May, India’s biggest Hydropower company moved the survey material under Indian police custody near a prospective site of the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam. If the project is completed, then it will be the biggest dam project in India.

The meetings to foster the construction of the dam were organised in July by the Prime Minister’s office. China has not yet given any details about the dam’s construction. Indian government-affiliated institutions analysed the Chinese project details and expected its cost to be around $170 billion.

India fears that the Chinese project of dam construction would severely impact the water flow, especially when the temperature rises and the land becomes barren.

The Upper Siang project has an expected storage capacity of 14 BCM. Thus, the project would be helpful for India in the non-monsoon seasons. According to the sources, if the Indian dam is not built, then the regional city of Guwahati would see a decline in water flow of upto 11 per cent.

Moreover, the Indian project of dam construction will be helpful in combating the side effects of Beijing’s dam construction plans near the border. India is also considering a proposal to keep 30% of the dam empty at any time to avoid unexpected surges.

Foreign Ministry’s response to Reuters:

Reuters has asked a question to the Chinese Foreign Minister that “The hydropower projects have undergone rigorous scientific research on safety and environmental protection, and will not adversely impact the water resources, ecology, or geology of downstream countries.”

The spokesperson said, “China has always maintained a responsible attitude toward the development and utilisation of transboundary rivers, and has maintained long-term communication and cooperation with downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh.”

The Indian ministry and the government, however, did not respond to Reuters. The Indian Foreign Ministry thus said that the top diplomat of India, JaiShankar,  has raised concern about the Chinese dam construction while meeting with the Chinese Foreign Ministry. JaiShankar deputy, however, said that the government is implementing measures to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people in downstream areas.