China starts sharing hydrological data for Brahmaputra river

New Delhi: China on Friday began sharing with India hydrological data for the Brahmaputra river, an annual practice during the monsoon which is crucial for generating information on floods in northeast India, officials said.

The data is being shared from three hydrological stations -- Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia -- lying on the mainstream of the Brahmaputra, known as Yarlung Zangbo in China, officials in the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Friday.

For the Sutlej river, known as Langqen Zangbod in China, data is shared from a station at Tsada, the official said.

The development comes amid the recent face-offs between the armies of the two countries at the eastern and northern borders of India.

On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in Pangong Tso area in Eastern Ladakh. Four days later, there was a similar face-off near Naku La Pass in North Sikkim.

In 2017, China had stopped sharing the data citing that the hydrological data gathering sites were washed away due to floods. It also coincided with the 73-day Doklam stand-off between the two neighbours that took place during the peak monsoon period.

It resumed sharing data from 2018.

India and China have signed an agreement under which Beijing shares hydrological data with New Delhi.

Under the agreement, for the Brahmaputra river, the data is shared by China from May 15. In the case of the Sutlej river, the data is shared from June 1.

The data is also shared twice daily until October.

The Brahmaputra originates from Tibet and flows into Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and later drains into the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh.

The sharing of data is very helpful in generating flood-related information for the northeastern states, officials.