Spotlight
New Delhi, 27 November 2015
Chinese Dam
WORRYING
CASCADING IMPACT
By Dr P K Vasudeva
It is believed that future wars are
likely to be fought on water due to its shortage for ecological reasons. In
recent times, the world has witnessed a major surge in regional unrests caused
primarily by the shortage of water. Tension builds up between two or more countries
when an effort is made by any upper riparian country to control the waterways
of trans-Boundary Rivers. Factors such as population surge, industrialisation
and other development activities compel a country to control waterways. When
such activities begin to affect livelihood, ecology and growth of the lower
riparian countries, dispute erupts.
As in other parts of the world, tension has also been
growing both in South Asia and Southeast Asia due to China’s
unilateral decision to construct dams and river diversion projects in Tibet. Since
1989, Chinese engineers have been thinking of constructing dams and developing
south-north water diversion projects partly driven by internal economic
compulsions and by the desire to acquire a dominant external position.
As is well known, the Tibetan plateau happens to be the
biggest water reservoir in the world. All the 10 major river systems of Asia
including the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween and Mekong originate in the Tibetan plateau. Of the world’s
6.92 billion people, for nearly 2 billion (29 per cent) living in South Asia
from Afghanistan to the
Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra basin and in Southeast Asia the rivers flowing from Tibet
constitute the lifeline.
The Chinese State Council (Cabinet) for the 12th Five
Year Plan (2011-15) had given the go-ahead signal for the construction of three
new hydropower dams on January 23, 2013 on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra
River, ending a two-year halt in approving new projects on the river amid
concerns from India and various environmental groups.
In the plan period the government planned construction of
120 million KW of conventional hydropower. The plan said the government “will
push forward vigorously the hydropower base construction” on the middle reaches
of the Brahmaputra or Yarlung Zangbo River,
as is known in China.
China on 13
October 2015 operationalised the $1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the
largest in Tibet, built on
the Brahmaputra river, which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of
disrupting water supplies. All six of the station’s units were incorporated into the power grid the
China Gezhouba Group, a major hydropower contractor based in Wuhan,
capital of Hubei Province
in central China
told State-run Xinhua news agency.
Located in the Gyaca
County, Shannan
Prefecture, and the Zam Hydropower
Station also known as Zangmu Hydropower Station harnesses the rich water
resources of Brahmaputra –Yarlung Zangbo River
– a major river that flows through Tibet
into India and later into Bangladesh.
The dam considered to be the world's highest-altitude
hydropower station and the largest of its kind will produce 2.5 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. “It
will alleviate the electricity shortage in central Tibet and empower the development
of the electricity-strapped region. It is also an important energy base in
central Tibet,”
the company said.
Officials said when electricity is ample in the summer
season; part of the electricity will be transmitted to the neighbouring Qinghai province, reported
Xinhua. Investment of the hydropower
station, about 140 km from Tibetan capital Lhasa, totalled 9.6 billion Yuan (about $1.5
billion).
The first unit began operations last November. Reports in
the past said besides Zangmu,
China is
reportedly building few more dams. Beijing
seeks to allay Indian fears saying that they are the run-of-the-river projects,
which were not designed to hold water.
The dams also raised concerns in India
over China’s
ability to release water in times of conflict, which could pose serious risk of
flooding. An Indian Inter-Ministerial Expert Group (IMEG) on the Brahmaputra in 2013 said the dams were being built on the
upper reaches and called for further monitoring considering their impact on the
flow of waters to the lower reaches. The IMEG noted that the three dams, Jiexu,
Zangmu and Jiacha are within 25 kms of each other and are 550 kms from the
Indian border.
The best strategy for the lower riparian countries should be
to engage China in a dialogue process and persuade it not to construct dams and
diversion projects on Tibetan rivers at the cost of environmental degradation
and the livelihood of nearly two billion people living in India and
Afghanistan, the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghana basin and the Mekong basin countries
including Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
River Brahmaputra is very important for India and Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra River basin
in India
is gifted with water wealth that accounts for nearly 30% of the total water
resources and about 40% of the total hydropower potential of the country.
Several organisations in Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh have aired grave concern over the reported move by China to construct dams on the main channel of
Brahmaputra in the upper reaches of Tibet,
to generate electricity and also divert its water towards drought hit areas of Tibet. This
move is bound to jeopardise the flow of the Brahmaputra, the lifeline of the Assam valley,
causing devastating floods during the rainy season. It will also dry up during
winters.
The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has confirmed that
the dam has been constructed at the Zangmu site on the Chinese side of the Brahmaputra River,
prompting the Government to take up the matter with China at a “political” level.
India and China must begin dialogue immediately
to finalise an agreement on river water sharing. India
and Bangladesh,
the two lower riparian countries, are understandably worried over the Zangmu
project’s impact on the lives and livelihoods of people living downstream.
Security analysts warn that China
could step up pressure on India
during times of tension and conflict by withholding water.
India plans to build hundreds of small
hydel projects on the Brahmaputra in the North East, which are triggering
anxiety in Bangladesh.
India can set an example by
consulting Bangladesh and
keeping Dhaka in the loop on its plans for
dams. Having won Bangladesh’s
confidence, India could
initiate tripartite talks involving China
as well on the sharing of the waters of the Brahmaputra.
A treaty on sharing the Brahmaputra’s waters
is urgently needed.
Of late, China
has drawn strong opposition from 263 international NGOs for its effort to
construct dams on the Mekong
River. These NGOs feel
that China has been using
the water resources in Tibet
as a political tool. As such, they want a moratorium on the lower Mekong dams for at least 10 years.
The dependability of the Chinese on such issues is doubtful
and this is one of the reasons why China has so far not signed any bilateral
treaty in regard to the utilisation of water resources with any of its
neighbours and has also not signed the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the
Non-Navigational Uses of International Waterways. It’s time for both India and Bangladesh to get their act
together. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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