Expressing concern over reports of China constructing a dam on the Brahmaputra river in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to form an expert committee to ascertain and verify whether a reservoir dam, entailing diversion of water, was actually being built.

While India does not have a problem with a run-of-the-river dam (that operates utilising only the available flow of water and some degree of short-term storage), it has major concerns over China setting up a multipurpose reservoir dam having consumptive use of water.

Gogoi had recently said large-scale diversion of water from the Brahmaputra, which flows through a 700-odd kilometre stretch through Assam, would hit the state's economy adversely and could trigger environmental problems in the North East region.

“The Assam CM asked the PM to form an expert committee to ascertain whether a dam was being built on the river in the Tibet region. The Assam CM will also constitute an expert committee at the state level to verify whether a dam was being built and the impact it may have on the region,” an Assam government representative said. Gogoi’s meeting with the Prime Minister lasted around 20 minutes.

On Monday, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu had raised the same issue with the PM. “The PM told me that China has said that only a run-of-the-river project was being built and not a (reservoir) dam,” Khandu told The Indian Express over phone from Itanagar.

Raising the issue of China’s repeated claims over Arunachal territory, Khandu also told the PM that a Chinese dam on the Brahmaputra could become a grave threat to the North East region. “The floods in 2000 had destroyed Rs 500 crore worth of roads and bridges in Arunachal. A new dam could pose a great threat to us,” Khandu said. In 2000, a dam breach over the Tsangpo river (as the Brahmaputra is called there) in Tibet had caused flash floods in the North East killing 30 people and dislocating hundreds.

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