Dam on upper reaches Brahmaputra will not impact India, Bangladesh: China
Beijing, Jul 23 (PTI): China on Wednesday defended the launch of the construction of a dam over the Brahmaputra river in the ecologically sensitive Tibet region and allayed concerns over its impact in the lower riparian countries such as India and Bangladesh.
It is learnt that India is keeping a close eye on the construction of what is said to be the world's largest hydropower dam.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday announced the start of the construction of the dam in the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, locally known as Yarlung Zangbo, at Nyingchi City located close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector.
The project "will not have any negative impact on the downstream regions", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a media briefing, while responding to a question on concerns in India and Bangladesh over the dam.
There have been mounting concerns in India over the potential environmental impact of the dam.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently called it a ticking "water bomb", an existential threat and a bigger issue than anything else apart from the military threat.
In an interview to PTI Videos on July 8, Khandu said the world's largest dam project on the Brahmaputra river is a matter of grave concern as China is not a signatory to the international water treaty that could have forced it to abide by international norms.
"The issue is that China cannot be trusted. No one knows what they might do," said Khandu.
The dam is expected to generate more than 300 billion kWh of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 300 million people.
Concerns arose in India as the dam besides empowering China to control the water flow, the size and scale of it could also enable Beijing to release large amounts of water that could flood border areas on the Indian side.
Playing down the concerns of the lower riparian states, Guo said China has cooperated with them by sharing hydrological data, flood prevention and disaster alleviation.
China had necessary communication with the two countries on the project, he said, adding that China would continue to enhance cooperation with downstream countries to benefit the people along the river.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the development of the project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is a matter of China’s sovereignty.
The project was aimed at building clean energy, improving local people’s lives and in response to climate change, he added.
In the planning, design and construction of the hydro power projects in the lower reaches, China strictly follows the highest industrial standards in protecting ecological environment in an all-round way, he said.
He also claimed that the development of the project will help prevent disasters along the whole river and will not have a negative impact on the downstream regions.
China has already operationalised the USD 1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet, in 2015, which raised concerns in India.
Critics point out that the dams in Brahmaputra present an enormous engineering challenges as the project site is located along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur frequently.
The Tibetan plateau, regarded as the roof of the world, periodically experiences earthquakes as it is located over the tectonic plates.
India and China established the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers under which China provides India with hydrological information on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers during the flood seasons.
However, the sharing of hydrological data between the two countries hit a roadblock following the eastern Ladakh border row.
Data sharing of trans-border rivers figured in the talks between India, China Special Representatives (SRs) for border question, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held here on December 18 last year.
Reports from Dhaka said the Chinese envoy to Bangladesh Yao Wen has assured that its dam is solely for electricity generation and will not affect water flow to downstream countries.
Yao conveyed the message during a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain during their meeting on July 21.
"China will not withdraw or use any water from the project and the project will not affect downstream countries," he was quoted as saying in a media report.
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
