In response to a media query on reports of construction of a Chinese Dam on Brahmaputra River and Possibility of Diversion, EAM stated the following:
"Recent reports about Chinese plans to construct a dam on the Brahmaputra and possibly divert the river waters to Northern China are not new but based on previously known facts.
It is a fact that China is constructing a dam at Zangmu in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo (as the Brahmaputra is called in Tibet). We have ascertained from our own sources that this is a run of the river hydro-electric project, which does not store
water and will not adversely impact the downstream areas in India.
Therefore, I believe there is no cause for immediate alarm.
I would like to share with you the fact that a large proportion of the catchment of the Brahmaputra is within Indian territory. It is important that the States of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam of India harness and utilize the waters of the Brahmaputra. This is
the really important issue.”
New Delhi
June 14, 2011