No plans to divert Brahmaputra, says China

June 14 (The Hindu) The Chinese government on Tuesday indicated it would not carry out projects to divert the waters of the Brahmaputra river, and would take into “full consideration” the interests of downstream countries in taking forward development projects on the river.

Chinese hydropower experts have also ruled out any plan to divert the river’s waters in the near future, describing proposals to direct the flow of the river to western China as unfeasible.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in response to a question on India’s concerns about any diversion plan that China “adopts a responsible attitude towards the development of cross border water resources.”

“We adopt a policy that protection goes together with development, and take into full consideration the interests of downstream countries,” Mr. Hong said at a regular press briefing.

Recent media reports in India suggested China was considering a plan to divert the river’s waters, citing comments from Wang Guangqian, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

But other experts The Hindu spoke to said the Chinese government had not considered Mr. Wang’s – and others’ – proposals to divert the waters of the Yarlung Tsangpo, as the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet, citing the heavy costs involved and technical difficulties of such a project.

They stressed Mr. Wang’s proposal was not new – he had proposed a diversion plan as early as in 2001, arguing that a diversion of the river could address water shortages in China’s arid western Xinjiang region.

Wang Shucheng, former Water Resources minister, ruled out the plan, describing it as unfeasible and unnecessary.

But Mr. Wang Guangqian, who is also the director of Tsinghua University’s State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, and others have argued that the project was feasible and no longer avoidable for resource strained-China, according to the website China Dialogue, which reports on environmental issues.

The plan dates back to a 1990 proposal by another water resources expert, Guo Kai, who called for a project to divert 201 billion cubic metres of water from the Brahmaputra to the Yellow River every year.

Zhang Boting, the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Society of Hydropower Engineers, who has been leading the calls for developing the Yarlung Tsangpo, said no diversion plans had yet been considered.

While the diversion plans have not won the government’s approval, there is, however, growing consensus for hydropower development in the river’s upper reaches.

Mr. Zhang and other hydropower experts are calling on the government to accelerate suspended plans to build 28 run of the river hydropower stations on the river as China faces a record power shortage, as The Hindu reported on June 11.

Among the proposed projects is a 38-gigawatt dam at the Brahmaputra’s “Great Bend” at Motuo, where the river begins its journey towards India. Mr. Zhang said the dams would be built only to generate power and would not divert the river’s waters.

But environmental groups say even large hydropower projects could have a negative impact on India, affecting both the flow of the river downstream as well as the river’s fragile ecosystem.

In November, China began work on its first major hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo, a 510-MW project which will come into operation in 2014. Mr. Zhang said the Zangmu project was an exception, and China had not yet approved a comprehensive plan to take forward other projects on the river.

Indian and Chinese officials have held talks on China’s plans for the Brahmaputra. The two countries have also set up a joint working group mechanism to cooperate on transboundary water issues.

However, experts say the absence of a water-sharing agreement between the two countries means India has few means to verify Chinese claims, and has few options besides raising the issue in regular bilateral talks.