Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
which, will be accelerated by the slowing down (reduced velocity) of the
river fl ow. It may be noted that fl ooding normally happens not as much
because of snow/glacier melt waters in the Yarlung Tsango section, but
more from the monsoon rains from on the southern side of the Himalaya.
Many tributaries join it in Arunachal Pradesh to make it into a huge water
resource. At this place the pre-rainy season fl ow averages well above 120,000
ft
3
per second, rising to 1 million ft
3
per second during the monsoon season.
All rainfall in the Assam hills discharge into this river, making it at places
10 kilometers wide. Recently, China and India (Hasnain 2010) agreed for
a joint mechanism to share hydrological data on rivers Brahmaputra and
Sutlej for the rainy season only. From water resources point of view, data
sets during low fl ow periods are critical and interestingly this is not the
part of joint agreement in spite of India's insistence.
For India and Bangladesh, water resources are already overstretched
by increasing demands from growing populations, new economic growth
and intensifying agriculture. The proposed dam on the Tsangpo canyon
will likely to reduce fl ows in the Brahmaputra by 20 to 30% during shoulder
months.
Indus River
The Indus River, which originates in western China, runs through Indian
Kashmir and the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The 1947 partition gave
India the headwaters of four tributaries of the Indus, namely Jhelum, Beas,
Ravi, and Chenab, and gave Pakistan the main artery of the Indus and also
the Sutlej in the Tibetan Plateau. The Indus water treaty (IWT) signed by
India and Pakistan in 1960, was brokered by the World Bank to equitably
allocate the rivers of Indus system to India and Pakistan. The treaty assigned
three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej) to India for its exclusive use,
which is about 20% of the total fl ow of the six rivers. The treaty gave the
fl ow of the Indus proper and two of its tributaries (Jhelum and Chenab) to
Pakistan for its use, which is about 80% of the total fl ow (with a provision
that India could use western rivers for the development of energy through
'run of the river' projects without storing water).
The World Bank's facilitation of negotiations contributed hugely to
the success of the IWT and the bank continues to be an important player
in resolving disputes over the construction of power projects by India on
western rivers. Over the years, the World Bank has remained fully involved
by appointing neutral experts and arbitration panels to resolve disputes.
The IWT essentially does not have any provisions for joint management
of the river basin. It only covers the division of water. However, it has
provisions to furnish hydrological, hydraulic and engineering data to
Pakistan, the lower riparian. India claims that it has scrupulously fulfi lled
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