Three more dams

New Delhi is too relaxed about China's Brahmaputra dams

After keeping India guessing about its overall designs on the waters of the Brahmaputra river, Beijing has now officially acknowledged its plans to build a series of dams on the middle reaches before the river enters Indian territory. China’s recently released energy development plan for 2011-15 speaks of constructing three more dams on this river at Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu, in addition to the one already underway at Zangmu. Though Beijing maintains that these are hydropower projects that will not have any negative impact on downstream flows, this assurance has little credibility. The fear is that the damming of the Brahmaputra at strategic locations is part of a grandiose Chinese plan: to divert the waters of the Brahmaputra to its vast parched tracts in the north-east – including the sprawling Gobi desert – and also to the dying Yellow River, which remains dry for most part of the year. Should that happen – which seems quite likely, considering that China has the required resources, manpower and technical capability to do so – it will spell disaster for part of the eastern region of India that relies critically on the waters of the Brahmaputra. Worse still, these dams and the manipulation of natural water flows in a biodiversity-rich and earthquake- and landslide-prone area will have grave geological and environmental implications.

The Brahmaputra originates near the Manasarovar lake in Tibet. It then flows eastwards, takes a spectacular U-turn to head towards Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and parts of West Bengal, and finally enters Bangladesh. The river accounts for nearly 30 per cent of India’s total water resources and about 40 per cent of the country’s hydroelectric potential. It is true that the bulk of the river’s total water stock is contributed by its tributaries located in India; but the estimated 71.4 billion cubic metres of water that it brings is indispensable for Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, where large parts would otherwise turn arid and semi-arid.

The most shocking aspect of the Brahmaputra water issue is New Delhi’s lackadaisical handling. Though the evidence of the Chinese construction activity on the river has been building up, the government somehow chose to take it lightly. India’s reaction even now has been surprisingly mild; it has merely sought a fresh assurance from China that the interests of downstream states would not be harmed. The worry now is that the proposed hydel projects will further strengthen China’s “established user rights” over the waters of the Brahmaputra, especially since India has been far too slow when it comes to developing projects on its side of the river — New Delhi has been quick to hold up projects at the first sign of objections from non-governmental organisations. The problem also is that while India has signed water-sharing treaties with other neighbouring countries, there is no such pact with China. All that exists is an expert-level mechanism for sharing water data — which does not function properly, either. It is, therefore, in India’s own interest to press China for a comprehensive water-sharing treaty and also speed up the water-harnessing projects on its side of the border to establish its user rights over it. Otherwise, the availability of water in three other rivers originating from Tibet – the Mahakali, the Gandaki and the Kosi – might also come under threat.