Lawmakers worried over Chinese dam on Brahmaputra:Daily Sun

 Lawmakers on Tuesday expressed grave concern over a hydroelectric dam built by China on the bank of the roaring Brahmaputra, called Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet, for hydropower generation. They asked the government to take prompt measures to avoid negative impact on the country’s environment due to the barrier. Lawmaker Mainuddin Khan Badal of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, a partner in the ruling alliance,
and Abul Kamal Azad, chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Front, demanded that water resources minister present in parliament an in-depth and clear statement on this issue. “We don’t know how much concern the government is over China’s hydropower project on the Brahmaputra. Experts say the dam would cause serious ecological impact on Bangladesh as Brahmaputra is our biggest source of water,” Badal said on a point of order. “All our rivers and other water bodies originated from the Brahmaputra will die if China doesn’t stop erecting dam on this river,” he said emphatically. India has also informed the Chinese government of its concern about the dam. “We want to know about the government’s stance on the issue and what research it has done about its impact,” he went on. Echoing Badal’s views, lawmaker Azad also voiced concern over the issue. The first generating unit of the 9.6-billion yuan ($1.6 billion) Zangmu Hydropower Station, which stands more than 3,300 metres above sea level on the “roof of the world”, went into operation on Sunday, Xinhua said. The dam on the Zangbo—known as the Brahmaputra in India, where it is a major waterway—will be 116 metres (381 feet) high when fully completed next year, according to reports. It will have a total generating capacity of 510,000 kilowatts, the news agency said, making it the largest dam ever built on the Tibetan plateau. India has previously expressed concern over the damming of the Brahmaputra, one of the largest Himalayan rivers and a lifeline for some of India’s remote, farm-dependent northeastern states.