BEIJING (Web Desk) – China has said that construction of a dam on the Brahmaputra river will not affect areas downstream, NDTV reported.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry in a written reply to the Press Trust of India regarding India’s concerns over the dam termed it an important livelihood project which was to address food security and flood safety in Tibet.
The Lalho dam project is to be constructed on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, located completely on the Chinese side, the foreign ministry said.
“The reservoir capacity of the project is less than 0.02 per cent of the average annual runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo-Brahmaputra. It cannot have an adverse impact on the downstream,” the ministry said.
Earlier this month, China blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra river as part of a major hydroelectric project whose construction began in 2014, days after reports that India was considering expediting hydropower projects on the Indus river in order to put pressure on Pakistan.
