Sign In
Learn bits
I.R., Infrastructure
Pradeep Kumar

08/03/21 14:07 PM IST

First downstream dams to be built on the lower reaches of Brahmaputra

In news

China has given its nod for the first downstream dams to be built on the lower reaches of Brahmaputra River or Yarlung Zangbo River (as known in Tibet before it flows into India)

Highlights
  • A draft of China’s new Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) specifically talks about building hydropower bases on the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra river as among the priority energy projects to be undertaken in the next five years. 
  • The project is also listed along with the Sichuan-Tibet railway and the national water network.
  • In 2015 China operationalised its first hydropower project at Zangmu in Tibet, while three other dams at Dagu, Jiexu and Jiacha are being developed, all on the upper and middle reaches of the river.
  • The inclusion of the projects in the draft plan suggests the authorities have given the go-ahead to begin tapping the lower reaches for the first time, which marks a new chapter in the hydropower exploitation of the river.
India's concern
  • India has expressed concerns to China over the four planned dams on the upper and middle reaches, though Indian officials have said the dams are not likely to greatly impact the quantity of the Brahmaputra’s flows in India because they are only storing water for power generation, and the Brahmaputra is not entirely dependent on upstream flows with an estimated 35% of its basin in India.
  • Dams on the lower reaches and at the Great Bend would, however, raise fresh concerns because of the location across the border from Arunachal Pradesh and the potential impact downstream.
Source: The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 May

Key objectives of caste count

'The Union Cabinet has decided that the next Census will include questions on caste to its enumeration of India’s population, for the first time in almost a century. ' T

Read More

05 May

2 new genome-edited rice varieties

'Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently released two genome-edited varieties of rice, the first achievement of its kind in the country.' These two varieties, which

Read More

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps