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Brahmaputra is almost 300 km long and is one of the largest rivers in Asia. It flows into the glaciers of China-occupied Tibet and continues through India and Bangladesh before ending in the Bay of Bengal.
The river is the source of life for hundreds of millions of people in China, India and Bangladesh. But also a source of irritation because the three countries have never reached an agreement on how the water will be shared.
Increase the tension
China now plans to build a large dam, something that seriously worries India. Tension is mounting between the two nuclear powers, which have long-standing border conflicts. The situation was already tense since 20 Indian soldiers died in the bloodiest confrontation between the countries since the 1962 war.
The construction of the dam gives China control over the flow of water to India, who fear that China will use it as a weapon in the conflict between them.
– It’s a serious threat. It seems that China wants to use the project as a means of pressure, a kind of water weapon, says EAS Sarma, a former senior adviser to the Government of India, from the German Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In the new five-year plan
The unrest in India escalated dramatically when China published its new five-year plan in November that sets the goals for national development 2021-2025. Under the plan, China will now start a major hydroelectric project on the Yarlung Zangbo River, the Chinese name for Brahmaputra, near the border with India.
The Chinese have previously built several dams on the river, but at greater distances from Indian territory, among other things so as not to provoke India. Indian observers see the policy change as an attempt to put pressure on India, in the sense that the Chinese will either be able to stop the water entirely or let large amounts of it suddenly flow through and cause flooding.
China has previously restricted the flow of water in the Mekong River, which runs through many Southeast Asian countries, with eleven dams.
GIANT. The dust of the three ravines. But the new facility is expected to be much larger.
Photo: Costfoto / SipaUSA
The biggest in the world
Yan Zhiyong, head of the state energy group “Power China”, says the new project is a “historic opportunity for the hydropower industry.” It will have a capacity of 60 gigawatts, which is three times the energy produced by the Three Ravines Dam on the Chinese Yangtze River, making it the most powerful hydroelectric plant in the world, according to the Chinese state-controlled Global Times.
China is trying to calm its troubled neighbors, India and Bangladesh, but has so far failed.
“When it comes to the use and development of cross-border rivers, China always acts responsibly,” said Hua Chunying, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, vowing “good communication” with them.
Information stopped
But in India, people are not convinced. When the border dispute between the countries broke out in 2017, China stopped all reporting on the flow of water in Brahmaputra, information that warned Indian villagers about flooding. A summit between the leaders of the two countries was required for the flow of information to spread again.
Under the title “Water Hegemony: Will China Turn Off the Faucet in Asia?” Brahma Chellaney, an Indian professor of strategic studies, writes in the Japan Times that China It has not hesitated to use its water hegemony against 18 downstream neighbors ”.
“Millions can die”
He writes that eleven large Chinese dams on the Mekong River have caused droughts in neighboring countries and that other Chinese water projects threaten to dry up Lake Balchash in Kazakhstan. China will be the one that will suffer the most for the country’s “The flooding of the rivers themselves has seriously damaged ecosystems”, he thinks.
In August, 400 million Chinese were in danger when an unprecedented flood threatened the dust of the Three Gorges. If the mega dam at Brahmaputra collapses, which is not unlikely because it is being built in a seismically active area, millions of people downstream could die. “ writes Brahma Chellaney.
NOTHING HAD TO BE IN THE ROAD. Communities were razed to the ground and finally submerged when the Three Gorges Dam was built.
Photo: EPA AFPI
Large ponds that have affected the environment and climate
Hoover (United States)
The huge Hoover Dam in Nevada, USA, was completed in 1936. It helped the industry and the region take down the country during an economic crisis. At the same time, it destroyed much of the marine life in the Colorado River.
Caribbean (South Africa)
The Kariba Dam in South Africa was built in the 1950s to ensure the supply of energy for mining in present-day Zambia. It was called “a miracle,” but it forced 57,000 people to move out of the area.
Bhakra (Indian)
In the 1960s, the Bhakra Dam became a symbol of India’s “green revolution”. However, poorly managed irrigation around Indian ponds has resulted in saline soils and declining crops.
Chixoy (Guatemala)
The Chixoy Dam was completed in 1982 and was financed by the World Bank. 400 people from the indigenous population died when there were disturbances around the project. In 2014, the Guatemalan government decided to compensate affected communities with $ 154 million.
Yacyretá (Argentina)
The cost of the gigantic Yacyretá dam in Argentina was estimated at $ 2.5 billion, but due to corruption and massive increases in cost, the cost eventually became $ 15 billion.
Nagymores (Hungary)
In 1988, more than 40,000 Hungarians protested against the construction of the Danube Dam. It was the first really big uprising against the communist regime in Hungary after the 1956 uprising. The project came to a halt in 1989 when the communist regimes in Eastern Europe began to fall.
Sardar Sarovar (India)
More than 250,000 people have been forced to relocate due to the construction of a dam on the Namada River in India. An independent review in 1994 revealed systematic violations of environmental rules and social rights.
Three ravines (China)
The world’s largest hydroelectric dam was completed in China in 2008. Construction produces a large part of the country’s energy, but at the same time has destroyed the Yangtze River ecosystem: thus, more than 1.2 million people they have been forcibly relocated.
Source: Current Sustainability
