China which controls Tibet has announced that it will construct a ‘super’ dam on the Brahmaputra river, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tibet, reports Hindustan Times.
India, a lower riparian state of the Brahmaputra gets water supply for its north eastern states from the river which originates from what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). It flows into Arunachal Pradesh where it is called Siang and then enters the Indian state of Assam where it is called the Brahmaputra.
This new development which has been on the cards for a long time is being seen as the weaponisation of the cross-border rivers.
The dam is likely to be constructed in Medog county of TAR, close to the State of Arunachal Pradesh, which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims as its own territory.
China has also built dams on the waters that enter the lower Mekong Delta that has left millions of people without access to fresh water, particularly in Vietnam. Such tactics are seen by analysts as a method used by China to force nations to accept its supremacy in Asia.
In TAR, the river is called Yarlung Zangbo and in June 2000, a dam burst in Tibet causing flash floods downstream in Arunachal Pradesh. Also, China has always refused to disclose hydrological information to India on the grounds that it was deemed to be “internal matters”.
As per reports, the ‘super’ dam will be capable of producing three times the hydropower generated by China’s Three Gorges Dam which is known for holding the largest installed hydropower generation capacity anywhere in the world.
Power Construction Corporation of China (Powerchina) signed a strategic cooperation agreement under the CCP’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) with the TAR Government and already initial work for the dam’s construction has started.
If this dam is built on the Brahmaputra, it will significantly decrease the quantity and quality of water flowing into India and will pose a great threat to agriculture, aquatic life and livelihoods downstream that could lead to a serious conflict.