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India to take up issue with China

By Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 - India on Thursday said it would take up the latest reports about China blocking a tributary of the Brahmaputra at the next meeting of the expert level committee.

Replying to a question, spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Vikas Swarup, said all the relevant issues that emerged after the last round of the meeting of the expert level committee are being taken up at the next meeting.

�We have conveyed to the Chinese that they should be mindful of the interests of the lower riparian population while undertaking any projects on the river. The Chinese side has conveyed to us on several occasions that they have undertaken only run-of-the-river projects and it doesn�t involve diversion of waters of the river Brahmaputra,� Swarup said.

�We have a bilateral agreement with China, which involves sharing information on the river Brahmaputra and Sutlej. We also have an expert level mechanism, which meets regularly to discuss issues regarding cross-border rivers,� he said.

�We also have a data-sharing agreement, which involves sharing data during the flood season. It helps in preventing damage, especially during landslides,� he said.

As reported, last Friday China announced it was blocking one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra in Tibet to construct a hydroelectric project. China said it was blocking the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, called Yarlung Tsangpo in China, to build a dam as part of the Lalho hydroelectric project at Xigaze in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

�Tibet on Friday blocked a tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo river as part of its most expensive hydropower project,� the official Xinhua news agency reported last week. The project is located in an area close to Sikkim.

�The Lalho project on the Xiabuqu river in Xigaze involves an investment of 4.95 billion yuan ($740 million),� said Zhang Yunbao, head of the project administration bureau.

�The project was scheduled to be completed in 2019. Construction began in June 2014.�

The report added, �The reservoir was designed to store up to 295 million cubic metres of water and help irrigate 30,000 hectares of farmland.�

China shares data on water flows from May 15 to October 15 each year.

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