Itanagar, Sept 07: In a significant development, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu informed the state legislative assembly on Wednesday that the Centre has proposed constructing a large barrage on the Siang river in the state to keep it “alive” in view of the potential threats from a huge dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, a stream of the Siang in China.

He said this while responding to a Zero Hour discussion that was initiated by Congress member Lombo Tayeng. The CM said that China has decided to build the 60,000 MW dam in Tibet as part of its 14th five-year plan.

Raising the possible impact of the mega project in the state, CM Khandu said the dam would have a cascading effect on Bangladesh too. He also informed that several rounds of discussions had been held at the government level and with the Brahmaputra Board on the threat looming over the region.

“We have to keep Siang alive. If there is a diversion of water (by China), the river’s dimensions will shrink. If large volumes of water come down, these will create devastating floods in the Siang valley and areas downstream in neighbouring Assam and Bangladesh,” he warned. “We need to have large structures to protect ourselves from floods”, he said.

He also said that he will request that the villagers of the area cooperate with the central authorities and allow a survey and other groundwork for the proposed barrage.

Khandu also said that once the survey is completed, the centre can give us a clearer picture of the matter.

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