{"id":20009519,"date":"2014-12-04T15:01:49","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T15:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=9519"},"modified":"2021-01-07T19:25:18","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T13:55:18","slug":"indian-critics-of-tibet-dam-accused-of-exaggerating-dangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indian-critics-of-tibet-dam-accused-of-exaggerating-dangers\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian critics of Tibet dam accused of “exaggerating” dangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tibet\u2019s first major dam, the Zangmu hydropower station, started generating electricity at the end of November. This prompted complaints from Indian media that Chinese dam building on the Yarlung Zangbo River could reduce water flow and cause environmental damage downstream in India.<\/p>\n

But Chinese experts say vested interests in India stand to benefit from playing up the threat of Chinese hydropower and that only dialogue and partnership will solve Asia\u2019s water disputes.<\/p>\n

The Yarlung Zangbo, one of the world\u2019s largest rivers, rises on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and flows through China, India and Bangladesh. It is known as the Brahmaputra once it crosses the border into India.<\/p>\n

The Zangmu Hydropower Station<\/a> – northwest of Gyaca county in the Tibet Autonomous Region – cost 9.6 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), took eight years to build and will eventually generate 510 megawatts of electricity. China hasrepeatedly promised<\/a> the project, as a run-of-the-river plant with no dam or reservoir, will not reduce water flow downstream. But this has failed to allay Indian concerns.<\/p>\n

Much ado about nothing
\n<\/strong>
\nLi Yuanyuan, vice-director of Hydropower Planning and Design Institute at the Ministry of Water Resources, told thethirdpole.net<\/em> that the accusations were unnecessary and \u201cIndia\u2019s media are imagining threats.\u201d China is building hydropower dams \u201cto end Tibet\u2019s electricity shortages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ye Hailin, secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences\u2019 Institute of Asia Pacific Studies, agreed Indian media was \u201cmaking a fuss about nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Indian media has reported China\u2019s construction of hydropower facilities on the Yarlung Zangbo will cause floods, mudslides and environmental damage. There are also concerns China could exercise leverage over India by stopping the flow of water from the dam in the event of conflict between the two nations.<\/p>\n

Xie Chao, a researcher on Indian and South East Asian affairs at Tsinghua University\u2019s School of International Relations, told chinadialogue <\/em>that \u201cexaggeration and manipulation of the threat of Chinese development of water resources benefits vested interests within India.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued playing the China card makes India\u2019s politicians appear strong, fans up nationalist sentiment and wins votes. For the state governments, particularly those on the border, the \u201cChina threat\u201d can be used to win a bigger slice of government funding and infrastructure investment.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the government has increased attention to border regions, in response to the media hype around the \u201cChina threat\u201d, with major new infrastructure projects benefiting the state governments concerned.<\/p>\n

Less blame, more cooperation
\n<\/strong>
\nWater resources have long been a source of tension<\/a> in Asia. Asian nations are unwilling to sign up to the UN watercourses convention for fear it will limit their development of hydropower<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, tensions have never erupted into full-blown conflict. Xie said that \u201cwhether it\u2019s between India and China, or India and Pakistan, despite the frequent rows over water nobody is prepared to start a war over these resources. Conflicts remain limited to diplomatic tussles, and limited cooperation continues.”<\/p>\n

Asia lags far behind Europe when it comes to cooperation over water. Asia is the only region in the world that doesn\u2019t have a multinational agreement on the use of any international river, Wang Weiluo a Chinese hydrologist living in Germany, told Deutsche Welle<\/a>. Wang compared this to the Rhine in Europe, where an international deal regulates dam-building by any one nation.<\/p>\n

Xie Chao added that unlike Europe, Asia has no common body such as the European Union to promote regional cooperation. Although economic interdependence in Asia is growing, lack of mutual trust results in constant friction and conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cLack of mutual trust doesn\u2019t necessarily mean there can\u2019t be cooperation,\u201d said Chao. \u201cIf different parties can pursue their own interests through dialogue and establish mechanisms to encourage participation and respect of agreements, then there is still a chance for real cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geologist Yang Yong said that given the size and nature of the Zangmu dam it will not have a major impact on the ecology or hydrology of the region. But he said there was still an urgent need for cooperation on the international rivers rising on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cooperation, not competitive development is the solution to Asia\u2019s water disputes, argue Chinese experts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000135,"featured_media":20014481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757,50039903],"tags":[50040314,554,50040322,50040707],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000116,20000110,20000111],"class_list":["post-20009519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-water","tag-dams","tag-hydropower","tag-natural-resources","tag-the-third-pole","country-bangladesh","country-china","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIndian critics of Tibet dam accused of "exaggerating" dangers | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cooperation, not competitive development is the solution to Asia\u2019s water disputes, argue Chinese experts\" \/>\n<meta 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