Bidisha Saha
Chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam strongly disagree on whether China's "Super Dam" will affect the Brahmaputra River's flow in India. While Pema Khandu has called it a "ticking water bomb", Himanta Biswa Sarma downplays the fear. Who is right? While the mega dam will undoubtedly give China the capability of weaponising the water of Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo in China), it is unlikely to make any consequential alteration to the river flow, according to an analysis by India Today's Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team.
BRAHMAPUTRA'S SUPPORT SYSTEM
Brahmaputra is a complex river system, consisting of several tributaries. Its mainstream traverses a total distance of 2880 km. Out of which, 56 per cent falls in Tibet, 43 per cent in India and 337 km in Bangladesh. The majority (nearly 50.5 per cent) of the Brahmaputra River's catchment area falls in China. A river's flow is sustained by mountain springs, glacial melt, upland wetlands or peat bogs, aquifers, and perennial tributaries. Though most of these sources of water fall in China-controlled Tibet, the Brahmaputra get an estimated 70 per cent of its water from rainfall.
As with many major rivers, Yarlung Tsangpo appears as a stream at its point of origin near Mount Kailash but continues to grow in size further downstream. It becomes the mighty Brahmaputra after absorbing three tributaries, Luhit and Dibang, near Assam's Sadiya.
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