Why in News?
- China is constructing a new dam on the Mabja Zangbo river in Tibet, near the tri-junction of India, Nepal and Tibet, raising concerns since China has ramped up construction of military and dual use infrastructure and in the eastern and western sectors of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Background-
- The development comes in the wake of China unveiling plans in 2021 to construct a large dam on the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo to generate up to 70 GW of power, three times that of the country’s Three Gorges dam, which is the world’s largest hydropower plant in terms of installed capacity.
- The Brahmaputra, called as Yarlung Tsangpo in China, is a 2,880 km long trans-border river that emerges in the Mansarovar Lake and flows 1,700 km within Tibet, 920 km in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and 260 km in Bangladesh. It accounts for around 30% of freshwater resources and 40% of India’s hydropower potential.
Location of the Dam-
- The new dam is situated around 16 km north of the tri-junction and is opposite the Kalapani area of Uttarakhand.
- It is on the Mabja Zangbo river, a tributary of the Ganga River.
- Construction activity on the dam has been observed on the northern side of the river in Burang county, Tibet since May 2021.
- The Mabja Zangbo River flows into Nepal’s Ghaghara or the Karnali River before it joins the Ganga River in India.
Major Concerns-
- Dominance over Water- China is constructing an embankment type dam with a reservoir, which raises concerns regarding China’s future dominance on water in the region.
- Likelihood of Military Etablishment- In addition to using water as leverage, the possibility of a military set up by China near the tri-junction cannot be ruled out as the country had developed the same in the Yarlung Zangbo river near Arunachal Pradesh.
- Water Scarcity- China can use this dam to not only divert but also store water which could lead to a dearth in the regions dependent on the Mabja Zangbo river and also lead to reduced water-levels in rivers like the Ghaghara and the Karnali in Nepal.
- Reinforce Chinese Claims over disputed region- Dams near to the border could be used by China to reinforce its claim on the disputed areas in the region.
- Seismological Impact- The Himalayan region is vulnerable to earthquakes and other seismic activities. The sheer size of the infrastructure projects undertaken there poses a serious threat to the populations living downstream.
- China building hydrological projects along geographical fault lines. For E.g., Projects on Yarlung Zangbo river are along the collision boundary of Indian plate and Eurasian plate.
- Further, the glaciers have been retreating due to climate change. Deforestation, soil erosion and landslides are some of the other concerns.
- Impact on people lives Downstream- Chinese projects alongside Brahmaputra will impact adversely lower riparian states local economy and ecology due to future plans of water diversion and dam projects.
- China’s construction of hydroelectricity dams in ecologically and seismically active areas represents reaffirmation of its aggressive ‘supply-side hydraulic’ approach of increasing storage capacity by building dams and reservoirs.
- These steps can impact food and water security requirements of people living in low riparian regions as well increase disaster risk.
Way Forward-
- By terming water resources in Tibet as a ‘commons’, India can draw global attention. China should be pressurized to rethink signing of 1996 UN Convention on Non- Navigation Use of Water which requires watercourse states to co-operate on the equitable and reasonable use and management of international watercourses.
- India needs to reinforce agreements with China that require the latter to share hydrological data of the river during monsoon season between May and October to alert downstream areas during foods.
- Water Treaty on lines of Indus and Ganga Treaty need to be formulate with China for rivers originating from Tibet region.
- India should start a lower riparian coalition, stretching from the Ganga Brahmaputra Meghna basin to the Mekong, in order to bring China into a water dialogue.
- Tibet has an essential influence over Asia, imparting sustenance to some of the world’s most productive agricultural zones, so it is the collective responsibility of all riparian states to protect the ecology of this region.