The following is a report in the Assam tribune, November 2, 2003
From Kalyan Barooah
NEW DELHI, Nov 1 � India may have grand plans to inter-link all major river systems in the country but so does China, as the country has drawn up its own road map to divert rivers originating in Tibet including the mighty Brahmaputra, putting a question mark on India�s plan. Recognition of Sikkim as part of India and the sudden keenness to improve bilateral relations with India by resolving all contentious issues including the boundary disputes may be part of a tactical move by China to divert India�s attention or so experts believe. While Indian plan is to complete the Project by 2013, China envisages completing its project by 2009.
New Delhi may have so far managed to keep all troublesome issues at bay but one thing is certain its grandiose plans to inter-link the rivers is spiralling out of control threatening to become a cause of international row. Bangladesh has already threatened to move International Court of Justice at Hague if it goes ahead with the river-linking project unilaterally. The 35th round of Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission meeting held in September had failed to make much headway because of Bangladesh Government�s insistence on inclusion of the river-linking project in the agenda. But discovering that China also has its grand design on linking rivers Bangladesh Government has hinted its willingness to join hands with India to raise the issue at international forum to stop China from choking sources of major rivers that is its lifeline as well as India�s North Eastern Region�s.
The issue has been taken so seriously that experts from Bangladesh briefed selective Indian journalists, this week, about the impact of the Chinese Project. The Tibetan plateau in China is the principal watershed in Asia and the source of its 10 major rivers, including the Brahmaputra known as Yarlung or Tsangpo in Tibet, the Sutlej and the Indus. An estimated 90 per cent of the Tibetan rivers' runoff flows downstream to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. But for the North Eastern Region, the major concern would be the bid to divert Brahmaputra River.
According to reports, when Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee was visiting Beijing this June, a team of experts in China was conducting feasibility study on construction of a major hydropower project on the Brahmputra River in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Experts analysed that China�s move might not only be harmful for the environment but also to national security. India has after hesitating for years proposed to invest over Rs 25,000 crore in the Region setting up mega-hydel projects on Brahmaputra.
Originating in China-held Tibet, Brahmputra River is the largest river running 2,057 kilometres in Tibet before flowing into India. It has been discovered recently that the river's gorge forms the longest and deepest canyon in the world. At the Great Bend, China plans to construct world's largest hydroelectric plant to generate 40,000 megawatts of electricity. Also the diverted water will be pumped northward across hundreds of kilometres of mountainous region to China's arid North Western provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu (Gobi desert).
Bangladeshi experts fear that both India and Bangladesh would-ever be at the mercy of China, which for its own interests could withhold water for power generation and irrigation during the dry season and release water during the flood season with catastrophic consequences for eastern South Asia. As for the source of information, Bangladeshi experts claimed that a German TV has recently done a documentary on the issue and National Geographic magazine has probed and reported the matter, as had a British Science journal. In 1990, the Chinese Government decided to permit a team from National Geographic to explore the Grand Canyon first time.
Meanwhile, top official of the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) when contacted underplayed the issue, saying that they were aware of the reports of China�s plan to construct a hydel project in the upper reaches though there was nothing to indicate that it was concrete. However, it was denied that there was move to divert Brahmaputra. �Every country has its own plans on developing its river network, as does China,� he said, adding that such reports do keep emanating from time-to-time.
The report on China�s move to inter-link rivers in Tibetan plateau was first flashed by Carnegie Endowment and this has been posted in their web site too, the official said. It may be recalled here that few years ago a hue-and-cry was raised after a British Science journal had reported that China was planning to divert Brahmaputra using nuclear explosives.
Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics in Beijing, which studied this project had reportedly recommended this peaceful use of nuclear device, the London based Science Journal had claimed, which was subsequently denied by China. But in 1998-1999, an unprecedented round of flood that wreaked havoc in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam was traced to a deliberate act of blasting of a dam in Tibet by the Chinese Army to study its impact in the lower reaches. At least four strategic bridges in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China were washed away cutting off the State from rest of the country besides leaving behind a trail of destruction. The incident prompted India to approach China and a formal agreement on sharing flood forecasting information was signed by the two countries.
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