BJP MLA raises concern over China's under-construction mega dam near Arunachal
Arunachal Pradesh which poses a threat of a flood-like situation in the state, senior BJP MLA Ninong Ering on Friday urged the government to take up the issue with the Centre. China is building a 60,000 megawatt dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Medog, near the international border.
Tsangpo is known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam. The main channel of this river is the Jamuna, which flows through Bangladesh before joining the Bay of Bengal.
Participating in the motion of thanks to the governor's address in the assembly, Ering, a former Union minister said, «We cannot trust our 'neighbour'. You never know what they can do. They can either divert the entire river flow drying up our Siang or release water at once causing unprecedented floods havoc downstream.»
He added that not just India, but the construction of the dam might also affect Bangladesh.
«People's safety and country's security cannot be compromised. Our motto should be 'Nation First' and we have to think for India's security,» the former minister of state for minority affairs said.
While supporting construction of dams with storage capacity to check floods in the region, the MLA from Pasighat West assembly constituency informed that there is no water treaty between India and China so far.
Referring to the opposition by anti-dam protagonists, the lawmaker suggested that they should be consulted before constructing dams so that the interest of the people could be looked at.
"Hydropower is Arunachal Pradesh's only resource," he
