Why is China’s new dam a matter of concern for India, that’s why it is being called a ‘water bomb’

China has started building a new dam on the Indian border. This dam is being built on the Brahmaputra in Tibet. The Chinese Council has given information about this dam on its website. Once completed, it will be the world’s largest dam. This act of China has deepened the lines of worry on India’s forehead. There are many reasons behind this. Actually, this is not a dam, but a water bomb of China, which it can use against India. Apart from this, the location of this dam is such that it is very important for India from a strategic point of view. Apart from this, there is also a danger of earthquake due to the collision of tectonic plates at this location.

Close to the Indian border

China is building this dam close to the Indian border. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qing has announced the construction of this dam. This dam is being built in the lower region of the Brahmaputra River in Nyingchi city of China. This dam will be built on a huge valley in the Himalayan mountain range. At this place, the Brahmaputra River takes a huge ‘U-turn’ and enters Arunachal Pradesh and then Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra River is known as Sangpo in China. This river originates from the Jima Yangzong Glacier near Mount Kailash in southwestern Tibet. Its length is 1,700 kilometers. It enters India as the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh, then the Brahmaputra in Assam and later reaches Bangladesh.

Why is it a concern for India?

Concerns have arisen in India that the size and scale of the dam will not only give China the right to control the water flow, but it will also help Beijing to release large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of war. In 2020, an Australian think tank published a report. According to this, China can put India in trouble by controlling the rivers of the Tibetan Plateau.

This is the cost

This dam is being built at a cost of $167.8 billion. Five hydropower stations will be built here. The hydropower station built here is expected to generate more than 300 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year. This will benefit about 30 crore people in China. Till now, it was built on the Yangtze River in China, where most of the electricity is generated.

What is India’s preparation

India is also building a dam on the Brahmaputra River in Arunachal Pradesh. India and China created an Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to cross-border rivers. Under this, China provides hydrological information on the Brahmaputra River and Sutlej River to India during the flood season. But it will be interesting to see how much this system will work after the dam is built.