NHPC submits pre-feasibility report on Upper Siang hydroelectric project, as counter to China’s dam on Brahmaputra

Subject :Geography

Section :Mapping

Context:

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has submitted a pre-feasibility report to the Central Electricity Authority of India for the ‘Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage’, India’s largest hydel power project to date to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.

About Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage:

Location: Arunachal Pradesh, across the river Siang (in Arunchal Pradesh, Brahmaputra river is called as Siang river.)
Main purpose:
- To counter China’s water diversion scheme to the YarlungTsangpo river in China – which flows into Arunachal as the Siang and then as the Brahmaputra in Assam.
- Production of hydel power.
The Upper Siang reservoir will store 9 billion cubic meters of water.

Need for Upper Siang hydroelectric project:

China is building its biggest (60GW) dam in Medong (a region near Arunachal Pradesh), to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Some other projects developed by China near Arunachal Pradesh are:
- 360 MW dam at Gyatso
- 560 MW dam at Jiexu.
- Three more dams – 640 MW at Dagu, 710 MW dam at Bayu and 800 MW dam at Zhongyu – are in advanced stages of planning.
This is a significant concern for India, as the water diversion will lead to a thinning of the river water during our peak season. As well as a possible release of water will lead to significant flooding.
As a solution, this plant will act as a reservoir. In the event of a diversion of water by China, the massive reservoir will be able to feed Arunachal Pradesh and its irrigation requirements.

About Siang/Brahmaputra river:

The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh.
It is also known as the YarlungTsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali,Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla.
It is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge, and the 15th longest.
With its origin in the Manasarovar Lake region, near Mount Kailash, on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet where it is known as the YarlungTsangpo River, It flows along southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great gorges (including the YarlungTsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Arunachal Pradesh.
It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as the Brahmaputra and south through Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be confused with the Yamuna of India).
In the vast Ganges Delta, it merges with the Ganges, popularly known as the Padma in Bangladesh, and becomes the Meghna and ultimately empties into the Bay of Bengal.