There is such a cross-border river, its Indian name is Brahmaputra River, which may be little known in everyone's knowledge, but when it comes to the name of the upper reaches of this river - Brahmaputra River, everyone knows it. But recently, the originally calm river has recently triggered the conflict between the Chinese and Indian people again, and the Indian people are shouting, what should they drink?
The Brahmaputra River is a glacier that originates in the Himalayas in the Chinese Autonomous RegionIn China, it is called the Brahmaputra River, which is the "mother river" of the Tibetan peopleThe river flows through ** and then flows south to Basikhadi, and then flows out of China into India, where it joins the rivers of India to form the Brahmaputra River.
The Brahmaputra River, a river that straddles China and IndiaThe development of water resources often causes disputes between China and India over the use of water resourcesAs a result, the river is not just a simple issue of water use, but has long since escalated to a political issue in China and India.
As the fifth largest river in China and one of the highest rivers in the world, the Brahmaputra River has considerable water resourcesThe average flow of the main stream and the five major tributaries alone contains more than 90 million kilowatts of hydropower. About 1 6 in China.
Its huge natural water energy reserves rank second in China, second only to the Yangtze River. Therefore, in 2010, China began to build the largest hydropower station in the middle and lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, the Zangmu Hydropower StationAfter eight years of hard work, the 9.6 billion yuan Zangmu hydropower station was finally completed and put into operation in 2014.
However, since the Brahmaputra River eventually flows out of China and into India, the Tibetan Wood Hydropower Station was first built to cause concern in India. Fearing that it would affect the environment and damage to India as a downstream river, after all, after the operation of the hydropower plant, India believes that China will bring the Brahmaputra River to China's Shaanxi, Hebei, Beijing and other places. Once the river water is brought in, the water resources will be cut off upstream, which is very detrimental to India.
As for India's concern that China will close the water source of the Brahmaputra River, the Chinese side has already explained that the construction of the Zangmu Hydropower Station in the Gacha Gorge in the middle of the Brahmaputra River is very far away from India and will not adversely affect India's water resources. China's water conservancy projects have nothing to do with India, and China will not control the water resources strategies of China and India, but India is obviously still full of concerns about China's water conservancy projects on the Brahmaputra River.
So there is also the rebellion of the Indian people this time, why do the Indian people say that China has left them with no water to drink?This has to mention the idea of "south-to-north water diversion" put forward by China's state leaders when they inspected the Yellow River in 1952. Although China has a vast land, the distribution of water resources is very uneven, a large number of freshwater resources are distributed in the south, the north is less than a quarter of the south, and the large Chinese population, water use has become one of the problems that China needs to solve urgently.
The South-to-North Water Diversion Project also came into being, as a solution to the problem of the North 4The huge project of water shortage for 3.8 billion people has finally been determined by experts after discussions at various levels, and three routes in the east, middle and west have been finally determined. At present, the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project have been put into work and the results have been remarkable. The western route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is still in the demonstration stage and has not yet been constructed. The water conservancy project on the Brahmaputra River, which the Indian people are worried about, is one of the projects of China's south-to-north water diversion project on the western route.
This plan was first proposed by a private water conservancy engineer named Guo Kai in China, and later the writer Li Ling published the book "Water to Save China" in 2005 after 17 years of field investigations, which received a strong reaction from the people in 2011 and was also noticed by China's high-level officials.
This magnificent "Great Western Route" project is also known as the Tibetan Water Diversion Project to the North. That is, the water of the Brahmaputra River, the Nu River, the Lancang River and other rivers is transported to Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Tianjin, Beijing and other regions. The transfer of Tibetan water to the north will not only solve the water crisis of the people of northern China, but also alleviate the drought situation in the northern land.
It is necessary to know that the climate in the northwest of China is generally dry, precipitation is less than 500 mm, and the annual precipitation in some areas is less than 20 mm, which can be said to be rainless throughout the year. Although China's northwest region accounts for 32% of the country's total area, there are many deserts, as well as problems such as soil erosion and desertification caused by human causes, and the surface water content in Northwest China is only 8% of the country, only about 220 billion cubic meters per year.
According to China's official data, the water shortage in the northwest reaches 5 billion cubic meters per year in a normal year. Drought, water shortage, poor environment and other problems are the important reasons for the backward economic development and the difficulty of agricultural transformation in Northwest China.
It has been learned that once the "Tibetan water diversion project to the north" is successfully implemented, the water supply of the Brahmaputra River alone will be able to reach the total water supply of the current south-to-north water diversion project. For example, the Brahmaputra River is 2,900 kilometers long, 2,057 kilometers long in China, and the river basin area has reached 240,000 kilometers.
Among them, Baxika is the area with the largest precipitation in China, with an average annual precipitation of 4496 mm and an average runoff of about 1654 cubic meters in the main stream, while the average runoff of the Yellow River, the most important river in northwest and north China, is only 58 billion cubic meters. In 2020, the survey ceremony of the western route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project was officially held. It can be seen from this that the "Tibetan water diversion project to the north" is just around the corner.
In May 2019, India's Ministry of Water Resources said that China had restored data on the Brahmaputra River with India. When the news of the "Tibetan Water Diversion Project to the North" reached India again, India** frequently made remarks such as "China controls water resources" to intensify the contradictions.
The Brahmaputra River in India is known as the three major rivers of India along with the Ganges and Indus rivers in India, but India also has the characteristics of uneven precipitation, and its total freshwater accounts for only 4% of the world's total. As in China, there is drought and water scarcity in some areas. This transnational river has also sparked discussions on water resources between China and India. The Brahmaputra River is simply love-hated for Indians, and since India is located in the lower reaches of the river, it often suffers from floods that cause immeasurable damage to India.
However, the Brahmaputra riverbed contains fertile alluvial soil that has been deposited gradually from the source, and it is of great strategic importance to India. China has the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project, and India has the "Inland River Internet Project", also known as the Indian version of the "North-South Water Diversion".
As a downstream country, India has a strong controversy over China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which, like its concerns about the Zangmu hydropower plant, fears that the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will cut off the flow of water upstream, and that India will be threatened by water downstream. India's Shifshankar Menon once said on ** that the cross-border rivers between China and India involve sensitive issues between the two countries, and India will always pay attention to the flow of the Brahmaputra River.
China's water threat" has also sparked dissatisfaction among the Indian people, who believe that once China implements the "South-to-North Water Diversion", then the river will be cut off from the roots, and India, as a downstream country, will suffer greatly. In fact, there are not many disputes between China and India over this cross-border river, India has planned to build the Upper Xi'an River hydropower station in the lower reaches of the river, but in fact, it is in the south of China.
In addition, once India builds a hydropower station in southern Tibet, China's Nyingchi area will be flooded by rivers, which will also affect the ecological environment of China's Medog County and some parts of Bangladesh. As a result, the Upper Siang River hydropower station was opposed by the Chinese side, but fortunately, the project was not built due to India's environmental protection and funding problems.
It can be seen that on transboundary rivers, any action involving changes in water resources, such as the construction of hydropower stations, will cause changes in the environment, livelihood, and population, and once there are bad changes, conflicts and even wars are prone to break out between countries. Obviously, the issue between China and India on the Brahmaputra River has not been well resolved, and some Indian scholars have defined China as a "water overlord", although the Chinese side has explained, but with little success, and the two countries have huge differences over the use of water resources.
It stands to reason that the Brahmaputra River belongs to China**, and how China uses it has nothing to do with other countries, but India obviously does not attribute the water resources of the Brahmaputra River to China, and as a downstream country, any move by China on water resources should be communicated with India.
As the upstream of the river, China does have an absolute advantage over the river, while India, as a passive party, is closely related to water, and if the water problem is not solved, it will also affect the political relations between the two countries.
Since the outbreak of the border war between China and India in 1962, Sino-Indian relations have completely broken down, and dialogue was not resumed until 1981, but the Sino-Indian border issue has not disappeared, and there has been a huge dispute between the two countries over the demarcation of the Sino-Indian border. The border between China and India is 2,000 kilometers long, and it has always been a default border line according to administrative jurisdiction, divided into three sections: eastern, central and western, and the place of dispute is part of our country occupied by the British.
In the face of historical issues, even if China and India have been in a state of peace, they have never been truly resolved, and the negotiations between China and India are also facing many obstacles, such as the Doklam standoff on June 18, 2017, and the border conflict between China and India in 2020, which have made the situation between China and India more tense.
Political tensions between China and India have also had an impact on the handling of water issues, and the lack of trust has also led to poor dialogue between China and India. Moreover, India has always placed China on the "water overlord", which will also affect the cooperation between China and India. Moreover, the Brahmaputra River plays an important role for both China and India, and its development and utilization also affects the interests of both countries.
As Chinese scholars have said, the Brahmaputra River should not be a river of conflict between China and India, with the development of economic globalization, China and India are indispensable for economic cooperation, and cross-border rivers should promote cooperation between the two countries. Regarding the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project, Wang Shucheng, former minister of water resources of China, said at a press conference that human beings should live in harmony with water, and he used the words that are not feasible, unscientific, and do not need to refuse actions that harm water resources.
Therefore, the outside world should not worry too much about China's water conservancy projects on the Brahmaputra River, although China's northwest and northern China are facing this serious water shortage, but China will also use a scientific way to top the development of water resources. Putting an end to over-exploitation, destroying the natural environment, polluting water sources, and putting an end to the irrational use of water resources is China's approach to water conservancy projects, and it is also a reply to the water dispute between India and other countries around the world. (*From the Internet, infringement contact deleted).