Why is India worried over China’s mega dam on Brahmaputra
China's construction of the massive Yarlung Tsangpo dam on the Brahmaputra River raises significant concerns for India. The $167 billion project, exceeding the Three Gorges Dam in scale, threatens to disrupt water flow, impacting downstream communities in India and Bangladesh. India expresses worries about potential flooding and water scarcity, prompting plans for its own Upper Siang dam project as a countermeasure. The project also raises environmental and geopolitical anxieties.
New Delhi: China is building "the world's largest hydropower dam" on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river -- the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory. On Saturday (July 19), Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over a ceremony that marked the start of construction on the $167-billion dam. The Motuo hydropower station is set to overtake the Three Gorges dam as the world’s largest.
While China is upbeat about the project, it has raised a wave of worry for India -- which is keeping a close watch on it. It is believed that New Delhi had conveyed its concerns over the project to Beijing through diplomatic channels.
What we know about the project
The dam being constructed by China is situated near a "great bend” on the Yarlung Tsangpo river — known as the Brahmaputra in India. The Siang river, flowing through Arunachal Pradesh, is the Brahmaputra’s main tributary, linking it directly to the Yarlung Tsangpo.
Once it is constructed, the dam could surpass the Three Gorges Dam on China’s Yangtze River. The dam is set to produce more than 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is enough to supply power to over 300 million people. But at what cost? That's what India is challenging.
What are the concerns raised
Criticism over the project stem from concerns about its environmental impact on Tibet and the potential fallout for millions of people in India as well as Bangladesh. India claims that the dam could act like a "water bomb”, aggravating floods during the monsoon, or divert crucial water flows during dry seasons.
Reports say that concerns over the dam could force India to accelerate work on the Siang Upper multipurpose storage project in Arunachal Pradesh, which claims to aim at creating a buffer against sudden fluctuations in the flow of the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers.
According to Chinese state media Xinhua, the project will involve building five hydropower stations, at an estimated investment of around 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.1 billion or ₹14.4 lakh crore). The money being pumped into the dam's construction has raised many hackles. They question the huge cost involved and if it is worth its price.
It is coming up in a seismically active zone of Tibet. Environmentalists and scientists have warned about catastrophic damage if there's a massive tremor or quake in the region. The green activists have also said the dam could cause damage to a national nature reserve situated close to the dam. The place where the dam is being built is one of most biodiverse regions in the world. International Campaign for Tibet reported that the dam construction in the region has frequently disrupted local livelihoods and resulted in the permanent displacement of many residents.
It is worthwhile to note that Arunachal Pradesh’s Adi community have protested against the proposed Siang Upper multipurpose storage project because they fear their displacement and livelihood loss. The Chinese dam could face similar protests in Tibet.
In June 2022, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd — India’s largest state-owned power company — was tasked with preparing a preliminary feasibility study and a detailed project report for the proposed Upper Siang dam. In February this year, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh had told the Parliament that the government "carefully monitors” all activities and developments concerning the Brahmaputra river. This also includes the dam on Yarlung Tsangpo river. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has said, "We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests.”
What Arunachal Pradesh says
Arunachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister Pema Khandu voices his valid apprehensions about the Chinese dam when he says "if China releases water from the dam, after 10-15 years, entire Siang and Assam will be impacted". "Hydropower will only be an offshoot of the Upper Siang project. It will be a defence mechanism."
"Setting aside the military threat from China, it seems to me that this (the Yarlung Tsangpo river dam) is a far bigger issue than anything else. It is going to cause an existential threat to our tribes and our livelihoods. It is quite serious because China could even use this as a sort of ‘water bomb’ (in the event of a war)," Pema Khandu underlines.
Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein has also warned that the dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo could lead to the drying up of the Siang river and its distributaries. This, he said, would threaten aquatic life and have a huge impact on the populations in Assam and Bangladesh who rely on the Brahmaputra for irrigating their agricultural fields.