Brahmaputra dams not to affect water flow to India: China

Beijing: China on Monday said it has "fully considered" the impact of the three dams it plans to built on Brahmaputra river in Tibet and claimed the projects will not affect water flows to India.

"China has always been responsible regarding the utilisation and development of cross border rivers and adopts a policy that pays equal attention to development and protection", Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Hua Chunying, told reporters here. She was responding to a question about Indian concerns over three dams to be built by China at Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu on the Brahmaputra. Official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs had said earlier that India has conveyed its "views and concerns" to the Chinese authorities, including at the highest levels. "We fully considered the impact of the down stream region. The planned power stations you mentioned will not affect the flooding prevention and ecological environment of down stream areas", Hua said. "China and India have maintained communication on cross Border Rivers", she said, without elaborating whether India has conveyed its concerns in this regard. Brahmaputra river is known as as Yarlung Zangbo in China. China is currently building dams at Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu in addition to a 510 MW water project at Zangmu. China maintains these are run of the river water projects aimed at generating power and not intended to hold water. Brahmaputra flows from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh and later into Bangladesh. PTI