But the Indian government’s own panel of experts has expressed worries that the projects will reduce water flow in the Yarlung Tsangpo, especially in the lean season. At present the main channel of the river is called Jamuna River, which flows southward to meet Ganges, which in Bangladesh is called the Padma. "The laws of physics will not allow water diversion from the Great Bend. Hong Kong residents encouraged to snitch on their neighbours, China says transport infrastructure in Tibet enables its rapid border deployment of arms, troops, Covid-19 recoveries in India exceed new cases for 34th day, Tibetan cases hit 1031, Despite denials by Kathmandu and Beijing, local Nepali villagers insist China took their land, Himachal Pradesh resumes bus services to Delhi. Such fears are growing, but they are not new. On a prominent Chinese science forum, Zhang said a dam on the great bend was the ultimate hope for water resource exploitation because it could generate energy equivalent to 100m tonnes of crude coal, or all the oil and gas in the South China sea. Rohan D’Souza, of Shiv Nadar University in Uttar Pradesh, is one of those voices. The tree line is approximately 3,200 metres (10,500 ft). Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. This part of the canyon is at 29°46′11″N 94°59′23″E / 29.769742°N 94.989853°E / 29.769742; 94.989853 (Tsangpo Canyon, 16,000 feet deep). The Chinese government resumed issuing permits in the 1990s. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. For a dependable electricity supply, engineers have to smooth out this variation to suit power demand during peak hours. The way policymakers look at a river and a river basin must change, they argue. China Dialogue is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of Chinaâs urgent environmental challenges. Any step forward is likely to be controversial. Yarlung Tsangpo snakes across the Tibetan Plateau before flowing into India and Bangladesh (Image: Alamy) Joydeep Gupta . To minimise the risk of water-related conflict, the two nations have agreed to share information about hydro-plans on the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. Pemako-area hydroelectric project zone shown within context of conceptual pan-Asian network of high capacity transmission lines. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Of these, 20 dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo will generate 60,000 MW of power, while 20 smaller dams upon its tributaries are expected to generate another 5,000 MW. [4][13], While the government of the PRC has declared the establishment of a "Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon National Reservation", there have also been governmental plans and feasibility studies for a major dam to harness hydroelectric power and divert water to other areas in China. Chinese hydropower lobbyists are calling for construction of the world's biggest hydro-electric project on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river as part of a huge expansion of renewable power in the Himalayas. However, China’s 12th Five-Year Plan covers the period of 2011-15. For his contributions to environmental journalism, he won the 2012 Green Globe Award at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organised by The Energy and Resources Institute.You can follow him on Twitter @joydeepgupta. D'Souza believes the only thing that will work is a paradigm shift in how a river is viewed: “Treat the Yarlung Tsangpo as a heritage integral to cultures and identities. Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website. The valley descends from 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). For the sake of the entire world, all the water resources than can be developed should be developed." The Yarlung Tsangpo is an important international river with several major tributaries, including Lhasa River, Nyang River, Nimu Maqu River and Parlung Tsangpo. The river then enters Arunachal Pradesh and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra. The river's hydrogeological features contrast greatly between the portions located in the northern and southern aspects of the Himalaya, especially flow and sediment load. Its climate ranges from subtropical to Arctic. And the situation will keep getting worse as long as rivers in the basin are seen as water pipes rather than living ecosystems. He warned that a delay would allow India to tap these resources and prompt "major conflict" in a region where the two nations have sporadically clashed over disputed territory. Negotiations between two governments will not work because they deal with only a part of the river. Kailash then turning north to take a sharp U-turn (known as the Great Bend) to flow south into India. One of them is a map of planned dams showing a 38-gigawatt hydro-plant at Motuo on the website of Hydro China, an influential government enterprise responsible for dam construction. Its longest tributary is the Nyang River. Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh the river becomes far wider and is called the Siang. The basin of the Yarlung River, bounded by the Himalayas in the south and Kang Rinpoche and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains in the north, has less severe climate than the more northern (and higher-altitude) parts of Tibet, and is home to most of the population of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. This is the deepest canyon on land. But China has overcome many engineering obstacles with the construction of the railway to Tibet, and its growing energy demands are spurring exploration of ever more remote areas. So the dams, if planned, should be in advanced stages of completion. The falls and rest of the Pemako area are sacred to Tibetan Buddhists who had concealed them from outsiders including the Chinese authorities. Jesper Svensson, “Managing the Rise of a Hydro-Hegemon in Asia: China’s Strategic Interests in the Yarlung-Tsangpo River”, IDSA Occasional Paper, 23, New Delhi, April 2012, pp. India is now building and planning just the same kind of projects on its stretch of the Yarlung Tsangpo as China is upstream. The Indian government has said these may be followed by projects at three other sites where the kind of construction that is usually related to hydroelectric projects is gathering pace, including four new bridges. Google Earth perspective of the Great Bend/Pemako area hydroelectric project alternatives of Daduqia and Motuo on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra River. Change ), A Prime Prospect for China-India Cooperation, Hydropower Development in the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra Basin, The Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas: Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Five of Asia’s Major River Basins, Knowledge platform on Brahmaputra river basin started, China-India: Revisting the ‘Water Wars’ Narrative, ‘Failed’ Brahmaputra board to be restructured, Three recent opinion pieces on China-India water relations.
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