4614 Dber214
Countering China’s liquid bomb
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
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The proposed river projects by the Chinese have raised concerns. India
does not have any water-sharing agreement with China except for a joint
declaration for sharing hydrological data, which is not adequate to address
concerns
After years of continued denial on its plans to construct
projects on the Brahmaputra river (YarlungTsangpo) in Tibet, China has now
confirmed the completion of the Zangmu dam in the middle reaches of the river,
for which construction had begun in 2010.
According to a recent report in
China’s official Xinhua news agency, the first generating unit of the
$1.5 billion hydropower station (510MW) has become operational and five other
stations are expected to be completed next year.
Zangmu is the first
of the four projects planned by the Chinese authorities on the Brahmaputra to
harness the power potential of the river. The proposed projects have raised
many concerns for India though China has been repeatedly assuring us that its
projects being small run-of-the-river schemes, would not have any impact on the
downstream areas as they have taken a ‘responsible attitude’ to cross border
development.
China has every right to build dams
in their territory and we cannot dispute their right to do so. But what should
actually worry India is the adverse effect of these projects on the
downstream flow pattern. China can control upstream river flow to suit its
hydropower generation and irrigation demands.
Presently, India does not have
any water-sharing agreement with China except for a joint declaration for
sharing hydrological data, which is not adequate to address these concerns.
Hence, we have to be prepared to meet the situations arising out of these
developments and we need to take suitable action.
One anticipated impact on India
because of these projects is likely the reduction in downstream flow during the
lean season (October-April) which would adversely affect our power generation
schemes. According to the studies, the non-monsoon yield of the river at
our project site is 33 billion cubic metres of which 22 billion cubic
metres is contributed by the Chinese catchment, which amounts to about 70
per cent.
Hence if they hold up this water,
water availability for our projects would be reduced drastically necessitating
partial closure of the projects during this period. Also if the Chinese operate
their projects indiscriminately, it would cause heavy water level fluctuations
in the downstream stretch, necessitating our small projects to shut down.
Another impact due to the Chinese
projects is the possible downstream flooding in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam due
to simultaneous release of heavy flow of water from the upstream projects
either due to safety considerations or otherwise.
Our experience in the year 2000 due
to floods in the Brahmaputra caused by the failure of a blockage across the
river channel in Tibet should be an eye-opener in this regard. Also since most
of our strategically important cities are located on the south bank of the
river, when the river is flooded, our links to the north bank will get severed.
Thereby, from defence point of view, this will affect, the logistic
support to our borders with China in Arunachal Pradesh.
At present, there is no major storage
dam on the Brahmaputra in our territory. If we have one such dam, storage will
be made available and we will be able to deal with the reduction in flows
during the lean season and also prevent water level fluctuations in the river
to facilitate our projects. Further, the capacity provided could absorb
heavy floods as and when they occur due to the Chinese reservoir operations.
In the wake of the 2000 floods,
experts had proposed a high dam with a storage capacity of about 16 billion
cubic metres across the Siang (Brahmaputra) which could facilitate
generationof10,000MWpower. However, it appears that the Centre has
ignored this high dam project due to pressure from some environment and other
lobbies and is only proposing to take up two small projects.
It is needless to stress the need for
a high dam project across the Brahmaputra in view of the damming spree being
planned by our neighbour in their reach of the river. Though China has
been assuring us that their projects would not cause any harm on downstream
river flow, we have to remain prepared to face adverse situations as and when
they occur.
The project would be strategically
important to provide logistic support to our border areas in Arunachal Pradesh.
It is necessary to fast track the needed clearances for expeditiously
implementing the project as is being done for the border roads.
Instead of opting for constructing
two small capacity dams with limited storage to appease the self appointed
environmentalists and activists, India should construct the Siang high dam
project urgently to face the threats from liquid bombs surreptitiously being
built across the Brahmaputra by our neighbour.
(The writer is a former Member
Secretary, Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Central Water
Commission)
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