Chinese dam on Brahmaputra to impact Assam severely: CM

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Oct 14: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday said the reported move by Chi operatiolising a hydro-power station on the Brahmaputra river is going to cause irreparable damage to Assam and other parts of the Brahmaputra basin.

In a statement, Gogoi said that the State government has all along been taking up the issue with the Centre of the reported move of Chi building dams on the Brahmaputra since long. Gogoi also alleged that he had urged Prime Minister rendra Modi to take up the matter with the Chinese President during the former’s recent visit to Chi, but Prime Minister Modi perhaps did not take the matter seriously which is of vital importance to the people of Assam and the Northeast.

Gogoi said, “I have pleaded with the Prime Minister to take up the issue with the President of Chi during his visit to that country. However, I had serious doubts whether he took up the matter at all.”

Gogoi further said that the very fact that Chi has built dams on the Brahmaputra leaving the government of India uware, is itself a clear indication of the Centre’s casual approach — which ‘failed to persuade Chi to desist from going ahead with the construction.’ “It is an utter failure at the highest diplomatic level to prevail upon Chi not to go ahead with the construction plan. What purpose will it serve if the bonhomie and camaraderie generated by talks could not be translated into concrete actions vis a vis protecting India’s interests,” Gogoi stated.

If Prime Minister Modi’s much vaunted ‘Act East’ policy does not act when it matters the most to the people of the Northeast, then in whose interests has the policy been rechristened, asked Gogoi. It may be mentioned that on Tuesday, Chi reportedly made functiol the Zam Dam, its biggest hydro-power project over the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) in Tibet at an estimated cost of 1.5 billion dollars.