The Congress Party wants the Centre to expedite the construction of hydroprower projects on the Brahmaputra, to allow India to retain its control over the river waters. On Monday, MP from Assam’s Kaliabor, Gaurav Gogoi, initiating a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the demands for grants of the Water Resources Ministry, said to secure its rights India must hasten the work of construction of hydropower projects.
“There has been a lot of concern over China building hydropower projects on the Brahmaputra. China right now has the legal option of saying that China has constructed more hydro-power projects on Brahmaputra and Assam and rest of North-east India has not. So, India does not have equitable access that China has and therefore, in order to protect our water security, we must ensure that the projects on river Brahmaputra are completed on time,” he said.
China recently agreed to extend provision of hydrological data, between May 15 and October 15 every year on a daily basis. The data will be provided by three stations at Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia in Tibet on the main stream of the river.
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After concerns expressed by some non government organisations over the construction of hydropower projects by China on the river, which could affect the flow of water in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the Centre recently clarified that it is aware of the constructions at Zangmu on the Chinese side and has asked the Chinese government to ensure that he interests of downstream States are not encroached upon.