With China having given the go-ahead to the construction of three more dams on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, India too has fast-tracked the construction of 200 mega and small dams in the Brahmaputra basin in Arunachal Pradesh.
One of the biggest hydro projects, which received speedy environmental clearance from the environment ministry, is the construction of the 800 MW Tawang 2 hydro project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Many of these dams are being constructed on the Dibang, Lohit and Subansiri, which are key tributaries of the Brahmaputra.
The Tawang 2 hydropower project will help to establish the stakes of India, a lower riparian country, in a crucial river especially since there is no water sharing treaty with China at present.
Primarily because Chinese officials have announced that the 510 MW Zangmu dam being built on the Yarlung Tsango to be completed within the next three to four years, the Indian government is pushing to have the Tawang 2 hydro project be completed within a five year time line.
The downstream Assamese government has expressed apprehension at the fall out of the construction of dams in Arunachal Pradesh but given the sensitivity of this northeast state, there is little likelihood of Assam’s sensitivities being taken into account for the present.
India and China have an agreement on sharing the data of the Brahmaputra water but do not have any treaty similar to India and Pakistan on the sharing of the river waters.
China has not officially communicated about the construction of the three dams, Dagu, Iiacha and Jiexu on the Yarlung Tsangpo river (as the Brahmaputra is called in Tibet) to India.
Union water minister Harish Rawat has criticised the Chinese move as he believes the key water supply to farmlands in India and Bangladesh will stand threatened because of such a move.
It is for this reason that the Indian government is pressing on China to set up a joint water commission or work towards having a joint water sharing treaty following an inter-governmental dialogue.