Table of Contents
Tibet : Source Of Water
- Tibet is the world’s largest and highest plateau, Forty-six per cent of the world’s population depend upon water obtained from rivers originating in Tibet.
- The Indus, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween and Mekong rivers are important transboundary rivers, which originate in Tibet plateau.
Occupation of Tibet
- China got control over Tibet in 1951 by invading and annexing Tibetan territory into mainland China in the name of “Peaceful Liberation of Tibet”.
- In last five decades China has build thousands of dams over almost every river which originate from Tibet Plateau.
- In its Dam Rush ,China has constructed more than 87000 dams and consist more than half of total dams in the world.
Dams on Trans-boundary Rivers
- Against the International norms, China has unilaterally constructed Dams on trans boundary rivers like Mekong, Brahmaputra, Salween and Irrawaddy.
- Water retention in large reservoirs of these dams are resulting into drought like situation in lower riparian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
China and Mekong Countries
- River Mekong enters into south east Asia through China, Myanmar, Laos tri-junction after originating from Tibetan autonomous region.
- River Mekong supports livelihood of 60 million people as it flows past Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and through Cambodia and Vietnam.
China and Mekong Countries
- According to a study, China’s Mekong River dams held back large amounts of water during 2019- 20.
- It resulted into drought in downstream countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia last year .
- At the same time, China had higherthan-average water levels upstream.
Brahmaputra river is known as Yarlung Zangbo in China.
- It originates in Tibetan autonomous region and enters into India by making steep gorges in Himalayan mountains. It enters into Bangladesh after flowing through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India
- China has build numerous dams on Brahmaputra river at Dagu, Jiacha, Jiexu and Zangmu.
China Weaponizing Water
- After the Doklam standoff china showed its intention to use water as a weapon.
- It stopped sharing the hydrological data of Brahmaputra river with India post Doklam stand-off.
- In absence of hydrological data , flood caused by Brahmaputra river damaged crops and livelihood of millions of people in Assam.
Ecological Impact of Dam’s in Tibetan region
- Construction activities related to dam has resulted into plateau warming more than three times faster than the global average .
- Glacial recession, especially in the eastern Himalayas, and the thawing of Tibet’s permafrost (or permanently frozen ground) have accelerated in recent years.
Siang River in Arunachal
- Siang is the principal constituent river of the Brahmaputra and flows for 1,600 km through southern Tibet before entering into Arunachal Pradesh.
- The River is considered the lifeline of northern Arunachal Pradesh.
- In 2017, The crystal clear waters of the Siang river suddenly turned dark black
Siang River in Arunachal
- The river water was polluted by large volumes of heavy slag obtained from dam construction site in China. River water is no longer fit for consumption and aquatic life of river have been damaged resulting into loss of livelihood for fisherman community
- China’s dam rush in Tibet region is causing long term ecological degradation and it has started a new water race in Asia.
- World community should come forward and make an international agreement binding on all parties so that water availability to the small downstream countries can be secured.
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