Centre Monitoring Discharge of Water on Brahmaputra by China: Union Minister

Safeguarding people of Assam from devastating floods

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Regarding safeguarding the people of Assam from the devastating annual floods, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, stated in the Lok Sabha today that India is monitoring and observing the discharge of water on the Brahmaputra River by China at sites close to the international border. 

Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary stated this while replying to an unstarred question of Assam MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury on the steps being taken by the government to safeguard the citizens against the yearly devastating floods in Assam as China and Bhutan are releasing water from their dams on the Brahmaputra River during the monsoon season.

In his reply, the Union Minister said, “Various issues relating to trans-border rivers are discussed with China under the ambit of an institutionalized Expert Level Mechanism which was established in 2006. Further, water level and discharge are observed and monitored at sites on the Brahmaputra River close to the international boundary between India and China.”

The Minister also added, “A Joint Expert Team (JET) has been constituted in 1979 to monitor the progress of the work related to the collection and transmission of hydrometeorological data on 36 hydrometeorological sites on common rivers flowing from Bhutan to India, including releases from dams of Bhutan like Tala HEP, Chukha HEP, and Kurichhu dam, etc. The data received from above 36 stations are utilised in India by the Central Water Commission (CWC) for formulating flood forecasts.”

He further stated that flood management and anti-erosion schemes are planned, investigated, and implemented by the state governments with their own resources as per priority within the state. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the states by way of technical guidance and promotional financial assistance for flood management in critical areas. To strengthen the structural measures of flood management, the Union Government had implemented Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI & XII Plans for providing central assistance to states for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme” (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21 and was further extended up to 2026.

Further, he stated that CWC issues short-range flood forecasts with lead times of up to 24 hours as well as long-term forecasts with 7-day Flood Advisory Forecasts as a non-structural measure of flood management to reduce loss of life and ensure proper reservoir operation. CWC maintains 30 level Flood Forecasting Stations in Assam.

Also Read: Framework of Brahmaputra Sediment Management

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