Jeremy Page
The Times (London)
November 20, 2006

(Article excerpt:) … China is considering damming the Brahmaputra, which begins as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet before cascading down through northeast India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. The idea is to divert much of the flow to the Yellow River to ease water shortages in northern China that threaten to undermine economic growth and social stability. Those downstream, however, fear that the project would bring economic and ecological disaster, as well as disrupting India’s own plans to harness the Brahmaputra’s waters. … Chinese officials deny adopting the plan and many experts dismiss it as fantasy. But Indian officials remain unconvinced, mindful of China’s penchant for gargantuan water projects and its opaque political system. They plan to raise the issue in talks with President Hu Jintao, who arrives in Delhi today for the first visit by a Chinese head of state since 1996. … China recently finished the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam, the world’s biggest water conservancy project, and work has begun on another to take water from the Yangtze through a giant canal to the parched north. Now China is debating the “Great Western Route Water Diversion Project”, which would divert the Brahmaputra where it does a U-turn through the world’s deepest canyon before entering India. The plan is being championed by Guo Kai, 73, a water expert who claims to have the support of 15 retired generals and Chinese leaders. … Read the full story.