Author: Unknown
Published on: 24/01/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
The Siang River, cutting through serene hills, has been considered sacred for centuries by Jijong’s ancestors in the Adi tribal community. But all of that is now at risk, he said, as India moves to build its largest dam over their land. The $13.2bn Siang Upper Multipurpose Project will have a reservoir that can hold nine billion cubic metres of water and generate 11,000 megawatts of electricity upon completion. Locals warn that at least 20 villages will be submerged, and nearly The Siang River originates near Mount Kailash in Tibet, where it is known as the Yarlung Zangbo. It then enters Arunachal Pradesh and becomes much wider. China approved the construction of its most ambitious – and the world’s largest – dam. The Indian government argues that the Siang dam’s large reservoir would offset disruption in the flow of the river. Beijing says that the project will be vital in meeting its net-zero emissions goal by 2060. There is no immediate clarity on how many people will be displaced on the Chinese side. The dam’s construction, at the Great Bend near Mount Namcha Barwa, will also be an engineering marvel of sorts. China's decision to choose this strategic location for the dam has prompted concerns in New Delhi. China will use the dam as a strategic factor in its relationship with India to manipulate water flows. About 15 percent of the great earthquakes in the 20th century occurred in the Himalayas. The pattern of major earthquakes hitting Tibet has continued. Indian government has told anti-dam protesters in Arunachal Pradesh that a counter-dam is needed to mitigate the risks of China flooding their lands. India and China have been parties to a memorandum of understanding since 2002 for the sharing of hydrological data and information on the Brahmaputra during flood seasons. But after a military standoff in Doklam – near their shared border with Bhutan – in 2017, India said that Beijing had temporarily stopped sharing hydrological information. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said New Delhi has “established user rights to the waters of the river” and has “consistently expressed our concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory” New Delhi urged Beijing “to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas” India and China have borne the adverse effects of climate change, including water shortages. “India just cannot afford to see water, which it expects to flow down, be bottled up in China,” Kugelman said. ‘Bangladesh will face most adverse impact’ But experts say the worst impact could be felt by millions in Bangladesh. India’s dam, Khan lamented, could be particularly damaging to the part of the basin in Bangladesh. “You cannot counter a dam with another down,” Rokon said. China and Bangladesh are in a position to muster joint resistance toward these Chinese moves. The threat facing communities on the front lines of these water tensions is only going to grow, say experts.
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