Shillong: Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday
ruled out any threat from the Chinese plans to set up a dam in
the Brahmaputra river, saying "information available with the
government is not indicative of any concern".
"People often worry about the impact of what the Chinese
do on the Brahmaputra. Our own assessment of the present
indicates there is no reason to be alarmed. China has also
given clear assurances and from our own understanding we can
say there would not be any major diversion of water to other
parts of China," Khurshid told reporters here.
The Water Resources minister said around 80 per cent of
the water that flows on the Brahmaputra originates in Indian
territory.
However, the minister contended that though there was
nothing alarmist "as of now, we have to keep eyes open and be
careful."
"We need to store some water on the Brahmaputra. We will
have to see what we can do on our side to insure some water
storage and steps to address the flood issues," he said.
China, which is planning to build a run-of-the-river dam
to generate 510 MW power, has told India several times,
including during Prime Minister Wen Jiabao`s visit to New
Delhi last year, that it was not aimed at diverting the waters
to affect the flow to India and other lower riparian nations.
"At present, the hydropower station on the Yarlung Tsangpo
(Brahmaputra) river is not a very big one and will not lead to
any big change in the downstream water levels or affect the
harnessing efforts by the downstream countries," Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu had said a few days ago.
After inaugurating a workshop on Water Resources
Management, Khurshid underlined the need for faster dialogue
with neighbouring countries to address the flood issues.
"Flood is a major concern for the Northeast and northern
states, particularly on the rivers that flows from Nepal.
Dialogue with neighbouring countries is needed so that some
storage could be done in their (Nepal) territory," he said.
PTI
