The Hindu : Front Page : Bansal allays concern over Chinese dam

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Friday, Nov 06, 2009
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Bansal allays concern over Chinese dam

New Delhi: The construction site of a dam reportedly built by China on the Brahmaputra is 1,100 km away from India’s border, Union Water Resources Minister P.K. Bansal said here on Thursday.

“The point where they were making a dam is 1,100 km away from our boundary. It’s a small dam and no reservoir as such. They already have such 15 dams there which they are using for local purposes,” he said.

“For their run of the river, we have no right. Our concern should be that there is no diversion of existing flow of the 79 BCM [billion cubic metres] water from the river into India. There is no evidence of any such diversion so far,” he added.

“There is no cause of concern right now but we always have to be watchful,” Mr. Bansal said. His response came when asked about media reports that China had constructed the dam on the river as part of the Zangmu hydroelectric project which was inaugurated on March 16. He was speaking at a Rajya Sabha workshop on “Parliament and Media.”

The government had decided to launch new projects in Arunachal Pradesh for the use of the 79 BCM water coming from the region. With supply from other Indian rivers, the total quantum flowing from the Brahmaputra swells to 629 BCM. The country is not using that much water and hence the new projects to harness the flow. — PTI

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