China plan to divert Brahmaputra may spell doom for Bangladesh

DHAKA: China's plan to construct a dam on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet will lead to a major ecological disaster for Bangladesh within the next few years, experts and environmentalists have warned.

They fear Bangladesh will turn into a desert in the near future as water flow in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river will fall drastically if China goes ahead with its plan.

According to morphologist Maminul Haque Sarker at the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), the water flow of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna will decline by one-third if the project is implemented.

"Around 15 to 20 small and medium rivers, including Dhaleshwari, Shitalakkha and Balu, will die," he cautioned.

"Less flow of water will result in alarming increase of salinity, badly affecting the World Heritage site of Sundarbans as well as Bhola, Barisal, Khulna and Chandpur, and even different places of Sylhet and Rajshahi divisions," Sarker was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

China plans to divert 200 billion cubic metres of water annually to the Yellow River or Huang He by building a dam at Yarlung Tsangpo.

Though Beijing has claimed the project is still at a conceptual stage, confidential sources confirmed that work has already begun with the target to finish it in the next five to seven years, the report said.

Mohammad Inamul Haque, former director general of the Bangladesh Haor and Wetlands Development Board (BHWDB), said the Yarlung-Tsangpo scheme is part of China's long-term river interlinking project to divert water from the south to the north.

China wants to build the dam due to the lowering of water level of the Yellow River, said renowned engineer Taqsem A Khan.

"Although China denies launching of the project work, we believe they will go ahead with the plan," he said.

Bangladesh is yet to take any diplomatic initiative regarding the project. Officials in the water ministry said they had no idea about the project.

India has already expressed concern about the scheme, fearing similar effects in its Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states.

Experts have said Bangladesh should put pressure on China as the UN convention on Law of Non-Navigation Uses of International Watercourses disallows countries from barring the natural flow of any international river.

As the Brahmaputra is an international river, China cannot build dams blocking water flow without prior permission from Bangladesh and India, they said.

"We should raise voices against the project at home and abroad immediately," said Inamul Haque.

Raihan Khalid, representative of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said though Dhaka is yet to ratify the UN convention, it can exert pressure on Beijing.

A group of retired Chinese officials first wrote about the idea to divert the Brahmaputra water in a book titled "Tibet's Water Will Save China" last year.