Beijing, July 17 – With China mulling to construct a huge hydropower dam to tame river Brahmaputra that originates in Tibet, the water flow to India and Bangladesh is set to be affected.
China’s official Xinhua news agency today reported from Lhasa, that authorities are planning to conduct a feasibility study in October on the construction of a major hydropower project on river Brahmaputra.
The China water conservancy and hydropower planning and designing institute, the organiser of the feasibility study, has sent an expert team to the area for preliminary work between late June and early July.
The Chinese section of the river, 2,057 kilometres long, boasts a water energy reserve of about 100 million kilowatts, or one-sixth of the country’s total, ranking second behind the Yangtze river, China’s longest.
The location for the possible hydropower plant is the u-shaped turn of the river in the south-eastern part of Tibet. the river drops by 2,755 metres in the 500 kilometre-long “u” section, leading to a water energy reserve of about 68 million kilowatts, or one 10th of the national total.
“Yarlung Zangbo” is the Tibetan name for the Chinese section of the river Brahmaputra, which runs through India, and flows into the Indian ocean in Bangladesh, where it is called Jamuna.
