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By Staff Reporter
Jul 19, 2003. The New Nation
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China is planning
for a huge hydropower dam over river Brahmaputra, one of the longest
international rivers of the world serving three countries of China, India and
Bangladesh. The river originated in Tibet and then moved eastward for nearly
1500 km before taking a loop for nearly 500km westward to enter Indian state of
Assam and then Bangladesh to join with the Ganges, another mighty river of the
world, at Goalundu to discharge the biggest quantity of water into Bay of
Bengal.
According to official Chinese newsagency, Xinhua from Lhasa, engineers will
begin their survey in October next to find out a possible site for the dam that
will produce one-sixth of total demand of electricity of China. 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, 2,000
kilometre long, boasts of a water energy reserve of about 100 million kilowatt,
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 kilowatt, or one 10th of china's 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.
Experts in Bangladesh said the construction of the dam, set to be one of the
biggest in the world, will divert water for irrigation purposes in China, India
has already built one dam and plans to built another dam some 40 miles from
Bangladesh border. Thus Bangladesh will be denied water of both the Ganges and
the Brahmaputra during summer. With construction of the Farakka, most of the
Ganges water was diverted by India and during summer Bangladesh suffers from
severe shortage of water. Some 20 districts of Bangladesh which totally depended
on the Ganges, now face the process of desertification for shortage of water.
The northern districts of Bangladesh used to get some support from the waters of
the Brahmaputra which also fed important rivers in the eastern Bangladesh,
including Buriganga, Lakhya , which serve capital, Dhaka. Further withdrawal of
water from the Brahmaputra will serverely affect the flow of Buriganga and other
rivers limiting the movement of water transport linking the capital.
Officials in Bangladesh are yet to grasp with the implication of the new
development. We are studying the news, said an official.
© Copyright 2003 by
The New Nation
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