New Delhi: Opposition to the Upper Multi-Purpose Project (SUMP) being built on the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh has intensified. Thousands of local people have come out on the streets. People fear that the dam will lead to displacement, loss of ancestral land and destruction of the ecosystem. The government is seeing this project as an answer to the world’s largest dam being built by China on the Brahmaputra in Tibet, but now Chinese scientists have raised alarm bells regarding their dam.
What did Chinese scientists say?
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yunnan University have warned in a study published in China Science Bulletin on October 8. They created a history of the Brahmaputra’s flow from 1325 to 2020 from tree-ring data from the Tibetan Plateau and projected the future from climate models. According to the study, due to global warming the flow of water in the river will increase rapidly. Annual run-off could increase by 20% at medium emissions and up to 29% at high emissions. Run-off means water coming into the river due to rain, snow and melting glaciers. This will also increase the possibility of high-flow events such as floods.
Why is there a threat to India?
Researchers said that in the last century the Tibetan Plateau has warmed twice as fast as the world average. Due to this, glaciers are melting rapidly and the rain pattern is changing. The report clearly states that this change will have to be included in future water infrastructure planning, especially for countries sharing river basins. By the end of the century the flow in the Brahmaputra may exceed historical levels. Its direct threat will be to Arunachal Pradesh and Assam of India, where the flood crisis may increase.
China is building the world’s largest dam
Brahmaputra is called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, Siang in Arunachal and Brahmaputra in Assam. China is building a 60,000 MW hydropower project at Medog, which will be three times larger than the Three Gorges Dam. Its cost is about 168 billion dollars. In such a situation, on one hand, local opposition in Arunachal and on the other hand, the threat of future floods from China’s dam have doubled India’s concern.