Eight persons have been killed in floods and landslides in Assam as incessant rainfall caused massive inundation in 17 districts, affecting over 78,000 people, officials said on Saturday.
China has approved the construction of the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border. The USD 137 billion project, which is expected to dwarf even China's own Three Gorges Dam, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the downstream riparian states. Concerns in India are centered around China's potential to control water flow, potentially enabling the release of large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of hostilities. The dam is part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese government claims that the project is safe and prioritizes ecological protection.
The rain and flood situation in northeastern states remained grim on Tuesday, with lakhs people affected in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, even as the meteorological department predicted more rain in several parts of the region.
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So far, over 30 people have died across Northeastern states due to heavy rainfalls, floods and landslides, according to media reports.
Government representatives told a parliamentary panel that the US has not officially conveyed to India that it should cut tariffs by April 2.
In the talks, China emphasised that the two sides should proceed from the fundamental interests of China, India and adhere to the strategic height and long-term perspective of China-India relations, the readout said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma believes that the BJP could win more seats in the state by aggressively campaigning in minority-dominated areas. He attributed the party's recent success in the bypolls to its beneficiary schemes, which he claims have garnered support from the minority community. Sarma emphasized that the BJP will continue with its development work for all communities and has no plans for appeasement. He also gave an update on the Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge project, which is progressing well and is scheduled to be opened to the public in July 2025. Sarma also hinted at a possible cabinet reshuffle in the coming months.
Falling on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, Lohri and Makar Sankranti are celebrated with great joy, often marked by the tradition of kite flying.
The MEA said that the Chinese side has conveyed to India on several occasions that it was only undertaking run-of-the-river hydropower projects, which do not involve diversion of the waters of the Brahmaputra.
Foreign policy expert C Raja Mohan has said that the recent disengagement of troops with China in eastern Ladakh has given a small opening to India, but the "big issues" remain. He also stressed the importance of strengthening India's ties with the US for technological and economic growth.
No casualties were reported in the incident which occurred on Sunday evening.
'India is planning to construct a multipurpose reservoir.' 'It will be a 10,000 MW hydropower project to offset the impact of the hydropower project by China.'
The government on Wednesday said any attempt by China to set up a hydropower station on the Brahmaputra river will act as an encroachment on the entitled rights of lower riparian states like India and Bangladesh and adversely affect the availability of water in its basin during the lean season.
The Bodoland Territorial Region in Assam is slowly picking up the pieces and finally finding peace after being subjected to decades of insurgencies and violence.
High nitrate levels have been found in groundwater of 440 districts across India, with 20 per cent of the samples collected exceeding the permissible nitrate concentration, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has said in a report.
The mighty Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world passes through China, India and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries.
Assam's flood situation remained critical on Tuesday with over 6.71 lakh people affected in 20 districts in the second wave of flooding this year, as the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 stranded fishermen from the severely-hit Dibrugarh district, an official said.
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The over 3,800-km-long Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world passes through China, India and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
Five major rivers, including the Brahmaputra at two places, were flowing over the danger level, it said.
Dhubri is the worst-hit district, followed by Cachar and Darrang.
It is high time India and China did a joint study to protect the river instead of competing to exploit and mutilate it in phases, says environmental activist Gopal Krishna.
Meanwhile, China has denied plans to construct a tunnel to divert Brahmaputra river waters.
However, Beijing expresses readiness for talks to reopen the Nathu La pass for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.
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It is not clear yet what impact the blockade of the river will have on the flow of water from the Brahmaputra into the lower riparian countries like India and Bangladesh as a result.
A senior official of the Union water resources ministry said it was an unprecedented situation on the Chinese side where Tsangpo broke a 150-year record with swollen waters and hence China has shared the information with India.
The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday even though flood waters started have receding in many parts of the state, officials said.
China's parliament on Thursday adopted the 14th Five-Year Plan, the mega blueprint containing billions of dollars worth of projects, including the controversial hydropower project on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet close to the Arunachal Pradesh border over which India has raised concerns.
Miscreants often use explosives and chemical fertilizers to net a large catch in the shallow waters of small rivers or streams during winter.
The revised budget for 2024-25 shows a sharp rise in the allocations, particularly for major irrigation projects and the Namami Gange Mission-II.
India should take up the issue in the strongest way with Beijing. But the solution is definitively not building more dams in Arunachal Pradesh, cautions Claude Arpi.
There seems to be no respite from floods in Assam, as the Brahmaputra and its a few tributaries are maintaining a rising trend affecting over 1 lakh people in seven districts of the state.
The Indian Air Force is expected to use one of its choppers to airlift a full-grown one-horned rhinoceros that is stranded on a sandbar near Sualkuchi in Assam in the bosom of the mighty Brahmaputra River.
In Goalpara, the Brahmaputra was flowing at 37.85 m, which was much higher than the earlier record of 37.43 in 1954.
The government on Monday said that it had ascertained that construction activity on Brahmaputra River inside Chinese territory would not adversely impact the downstream areas of India.
"The reservoir capacity of the project is less than 0.02 per cent of the average annual runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo-Brahmaputra. It cannot have an adverse impact on the downstream," Chinese foreign ministry said to a question on concerns over the dam.
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