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China approves the plan to build a dam on the Brahmaputra in Tibet

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    World Affairs
  • Published
    12th Mar, 2021

China's Parliament adopted the 14th Five-Year Plan including the controversial hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet close to the Arunachal Pradesh border over which India has raised concerns.

Context

  • China's Parliament adopted the 14th Five-Year Plan including the controversial hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet close to the Arunachal Pradesh border over which India has raised concerns.

About the proposed project

  • China will build a major hydropower project on the YarlungZangbo River(the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra) in Tibet.
  • China is planning to build a "super hydropower station" in Medogcounty, where the YarlungZangbo Grand Canyon is located.
  • Medog is the last county in Tibet which borders Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The project could serve to maintain water resources and domestic security.

Concerns over the project

  • India and Bangladesh both have raised concerns over the project.
  • The lower riparian State with considerable established user rights to the waters of the trans-border riversis concerned about the availability of downstream water.
  • The project isconcerned with the environment, national security, living standards, energy, and international cooperation.

Significance of project for China

  • Source of renewable energy:The 60 million kWh hydropower exploitation downstream of the YarlungZangbo River could provide 300 billion kWh of clean, renewable, and zero-carbon electricity annually.
  • Reduction in Carbon:The project will play a significant role in realizing China's goal of reaching a carbon emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060.

YarlungZangbo River

  •  The YarlungTsangpo, also called YarlungZangbo is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China.
    • It is the longest river in Tibet.
    • Origin:It originates at Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.
    • It later forms the South Tibet Valley and YarlungTsangpo Grand Canyon before passing into the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
    • When leaving the Tibetan Plateau, the river forms the world's largest and deepest canyon, YarlungTsangpo Grand Canyon.
    • Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh the river becomes far wider and is called the Siang.
  • Reaching in Bangladesh:After reaching Assam, the river is known as the Brahmaputra. From Assam, the river enters Bangladesh at Ramnabazar.
  • The main channel of the river is called Jamuna River, which flows southward to meet the Ganges, which in Bangladesh is called the Padma.

Cooperation between India and China regarding water

  • 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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