China’s dams on the Mekong River has raised fresh questions on whether dams being built on other rivers that originate in China, such as the Brahmaputra, may similarly impact countries downstream.
- Nuozhadu dam (on the upper Mekong River basin) in 2012 and 6 other dams altered natural flow of the river.
- 1992 to 2019 in spite of above-average rainfall, there was severe lack of water in the lower Mekong.
- India has concerns over dam-building on the Brahmaptura. In 2015, China operationalised 1st hydropower project at Zangmu, while three dams at Dagu, Jiexu and Jiacha are being developed.
Need for Trans-Boundary Water Management
- Dependency on rivers: Globally More than 45 per cent of the world’s population lives in internationally shared river basins
- Water Scarcity: Building of embankment dams and other structure on these rivers can lead to issue of water scarcity.
- Changing climate: may prompt nations to take unilateral actions to secure resources and territorial sovereignty. For India, decreased snow cover will affect the flows in the Indus, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra – both originating from Tibet.
- Spillover effects: to political tensions, security and other foreign policy objectives.
- Value addition to economy: A better trans-boundary managed of rivers can be commercially used and are value addition like for agriculture, dam building and power generation
- Soft Power: Rivers are an inseparable part of the identities, cultures, and religious perceptions of different peoples and hence the cooperation between the countries can also help in soft power diplomacy.
Major issues involved in Trans-Boundary River Management
- Advantage of upper riparian states: have enormous power in trans-boundary rivers as it acts as an upper riparian state leaving other lower riparian countries thirsty.
- Regional imbalances: in power among the South Asian countries, mutual hostility, suspicion and the absence of a universally binding international legal regime, sharing trans-boundary rivers and simultaneously ensuring the health of the riparian ecosystem has become complex.
- Federal issues: Sometimes states play major role in Trans-boundary river disputes delaying the conclusion of agreements.West Bengal opposing the proposed Teesta Agreement resulted into status quo between India and Bangladesh
- Problem of Water Nationalism: cooperation assumes a political character, especially in the case of Pakistan and China. For instance, Pakistan has time and again challenged India’s Baglihar dam project on the Chenab River before the World Bank.
- Boundary disputes due to rivers: act as boundaries between two nations. Due to the frequent change in course of the river, it may even result into a boundary dispute.India and Nepal have traditionally disagreed over the interpretation of the Sugauli Treaty signed in 1816 between the British East India Company and Nepal, which delimited the boundary along the MahaKali River in Nepal.
- Lack of data sharing between countries creates even more confusion in domestic and international water governance.China doesn’t share the Brahmaputra river water data frequently with its lower riparian states.
- Issues with the prevalent treaties:
- Not futuristic in nature: don’t account for technological advancement or variable infrastructure development along the river. E.g., the Kosi treaty did not make enough provisions for the maintenance of embankments and the rivers changing their course.
- Poor implementation of the treaties: For instance, the Mahakali Treaty is in force, but there have been ups and downs in its implementation.
- Absence of multilateral treaties: All major treaties are bilateral in nature despite the riparian ecosystems being connected. For example, the India-Bangladesh cooperation is contingent upon usage by Nepal as an upper riparian state in the river ecosystem.
Approach needed
- Integrative approach: Regional diplomacy should emphasise sharing benefits
- All the trans-Himalayan co- riparian countries must come together to adopt a system of water governance based on minimum international legal principles. the principles of “equal”, “equitable” and “reasonable” must be applied with human rights and environmental considerations for the river-basin communities
- Ensure proper stakeholder participation of local users
- Transparency in Data: help for shared benefits on the waters, and building ideas of ‘water peace’ rather than ‘water wars’.
- Institutionalised mechanism: in which all the co-riparian countries/basins have proportionate power. Ideally the body should have trans-boundary legislative powers pertaining to the basin and its waters.
River Water Cooperation between India and neighboring countries
- Indus Water Treaty (1960): between India and Pakistan providing mechanisms to resolve disputes.
- Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC): 1972 by Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace to maintain liaison in order to ensure the most effective joint effort in maximizing the benefits from common river systems between India and Bangladesh.
- Ganga Treaty between India and Bangladesh, 1996: agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border
- Koshi Agreement (1954), Gandak Agreement (1959), Tanakpur Barrage Agreement (1991) and Mahakali Treaty 1996: India and Nepal provided for withdrawal rights and construction and sharing of hydropower energy
- India-Bhutan agreements: construction of Chuka Dam on Wangchu River. It helped Bhutan use low cost electricity and excess is sold to India which helped it improve its finances
- India-China Water Data Sharing – In 2006, share hydrological data from May 15 to October 15 every year for the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers. The two sides renewed the agreement in memorandums of understanding signed in 2013 and 2015.
India China Water Relations
China plans to build a major dam on Brahmaputra. This has reinvigorated the debate on India-China water relations.
- run-of-the-river dams on Yarlung Zangbo (the tributary of Brahmaputra (called Siang in China))
- no cause for concern as it plans to keep communication clear with lower riparian states i.e., India and Bangladesh
India, on the other hand has stated that it will monitor the developments on the Brahmaputra closely.
River System in the Tibetan Plateau
Tibetan plateau is often called the “Third Pole”, owing to its glacial expanses and vast reserves of freshwater. Following can be cited as key features of this system-
- source of seven of the South Asia’s largest rivers- the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Yangtze and Mekong.
- flow into Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and form the largest river run-off from any single location
- 718 billion cubic meters of surface water flows out of the Tibetan plateau and the Chinese-administered regions of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia to neighboring countries each year.
What is the current status of India-China water relationship?
Trans-border rivers flowing from China to India fall into two main groups –
- The Brahmaputra River System on the Eastern side consisting river Siang (mainstream of river Brahmaputra) and its tributaries i.e., Subansiri and Lohit.
- The Indus River System on the Western side consists of river Indus and the river Sutlej.
There is no institutionalized mechanism on water cooperation between India and China, both countries have signed only -
- MoU for Hydrological Information of the River Brahmaputra in 2002 and in 2010 MoU on Hydrological Data Sharing on River Sutlej / Langqen Zangbo (renewed in 2015).
- ELM (Expert Level Mechanism) to cooperate in emergency management (e.g., flood), trans- border Rivers issues etc. in 2006.
What are the concerns that India has regarding the recent developments on Brahmaputra?
- Volume and quality of water: Run-of-the-river projects will significantly reduce the availability of water in the North-Eastern region and potentially increase the siltation levels, thus affecting the quality of water in the lower riparian states
- Absence of transparency in developments E.g.- Road developments near the India-Tibet border etc.
- Lack of trust on China: China’s past record of strong-arming Southeast Asian countries in Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) framework
- Potential use as political leverage in border disputes: China stopped sharing of hydrological data on Brahmaputra during the Doklam standoff. (But it was sharing the same with Bangladesh.
- National Security implication: availability of water directly affects the existence of a large section of people. poor water availability in the Eastern region can trigger a fresh influx of refugees from Bangladesh.
- Environmental Impact: such as increased pollution in the river (Siang- Brahmaputra’s main artery recently turned blackish grey as it entered India), potential impact on climate change, threat to biodiversity in the region and altering the monsoonal patterns of the region.
- Increased disaster vulnerability: Artificially controlling and consequent sudden releases of the flow of water increases the probability of floods especially in lower riparian areas of India and Bangladesh.
what can be the course of action for India?
- Strengthening its hydrological capacity: increase the monitoring capacity for flow of water on the Indian side of the complete stretch of the Brahmaputra river (for activity and infrastructural developments).
- Building international consensus against Chinese activities: India’s image as a responsible Upper riparian state and try to persuade other lower riparian states like Bangladesh, ASEAN countries etc. to build a regional consensus for countering potential excesses from China.
- Drawing clear red lines: communicate the same to China, with regard to the water security in the region. For example, if Run-of-the-river dams created by China alter the water availability in India, it will not be acceptable to India.
In the long-term, strained water relations between countries will hinder the development on both sides. In the light of this, India could make an effort to further strengthen cooperation through diplomatic channels like the Expert Level Mechanism and other means like the Himalayan Charter and Himalayan Council for the future of the Himalayas.