China denies plans to divert Brahmaputra River, claims media reports are ‘False’

Beijing, November 1: A day after reports claim that China is planning to divert Brahmaputra River by building a 1000-km tunnel, Chinese foreign ministry authorities refuted them. It was claimed that China aims to divert the river to Xinjiang.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was a false report. “According to my information, what you said is untrue,” Hua Chunying added.

Beijing has been assuring India and Bangladesh, which is also a recipient of the waters from the river that its dams were of the run of river projects and not designed to store water.

Yesterday, a report from the South China Morning Post said that Chinese engineers have submitted a proposal to the Chinese government to build a 1000km tunnel to divert water from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet to Xinjiang.

The move, that is expected to “turn Xinjiang into California”, has raised concerns among environmentalists about its likely impact on the Himalayan region, Hong Kong-based newspaper reported.

Experts, however, raised concerns over the move as it could impact the Himalayan region. The water would be diverted from the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which turns into the Brahmaputra once it enters India, to the Taklamakan desert.

The Brahmaputra in its upper reaches is called Yarlung Tsangpo, after it originates from the Angsi glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake.

Notably, China’s longest tunnel is the 85-km Dahuofang water project in Liaoning province, while the world’s longest tunnel is the 137-km main water supply pipe beneath the city of New York.