SHILLONG: Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) BK Handique has reiterated that there is no question of any fear over the diversion of the Brahmaputra due to the construction of a dam by China over it.
“As it stands today, there is no diversion of the Brahmaputra due to the construction of the dam by the Chinese Government. I do not know about the future,” Handique told reporters on the sideline of a function here on Saturday.
“Apprehensions over China’s plans to construct a dam on the Brahmaputra and possibly divert the waters to Northern China are not new,” the Union Minister for DoNER said while also recalling that there were similar apprehensions during the 90’s about Chinese attempts to divert the Brahmaputra.
He said, “After proper verification all these apprehensions were found to be untrue.”
To a query on the official announcement about the Chinese Government’s plan to divert the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra in India) in Shanghai recently, Handique said it was only a communication gap between Union Ministry of External Affairs and the Government of China.
He said all these things were later clarified and now there is no more confusion.
While Beijing last year announced the construction of a $1.2-billion hydroelectric power station on the Brahmaputra, it maintains that this project will not impact the flow of water to downstream countries like India and Bangladesh.
While the Zangmu dam is meant to deal with shortage of power in Tibet, China is said to be also considering diverting the waters in the upper reaches towards Xingjian.
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna also had said the dam is no cause for alarm and that it would not affect the downstream country.
