‘Even at Rs 82L a year, China data on B’putra can’t be counted on’

Guwahati: Without an insitutional mechanism in place on sharing hydrological data, India has to pay around Rs 82 lakh to China every year for accessing water information on the Brahmaputra.
This was revealed by New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR) professor Nimmi Kurian, while speaking at the 3rd Northeast Water Lecture organised by Aaranyak, here on Sunday.

“In the absence of any institutional mechanism on water-data sharing with China, India seems to be adhering to the transactional notion of reciprocity which is completely at odds with its own interests, especially for a river like the Brahmaputra,” Kurian said.

Speaking on the topic “Flows and Flaws: Diverting the Debate on Brahmaputra”, Kurian, who is an expert on transboundary water governance, said the ‘transactional notion of reciprocity’ is basically a ‘commercial’ arrangement for annually paying the amount to the upper riparian China for fetching Brahmaputra flood data from three stations in Tibet.

“The argument that is made for the payment is on the ground that these three stations are in remote locations and China has difficulty in accessing and the cost involved in fetching the hydrological data. So, the lower riparian should also share the burden of accessing the data,” Kurian said.

Saying that the question is not about money, she added, “What is troubling me is that if location grants the upper riparian the unique advantage, then it also bestows on it certain responsibilities to address regional issues on the shared transboundary resources. I have the fundamental problem with money or commercial arrangements for ecosystem services.”

Such an arrangement of ‘transactional notion of reciprocity’, Kurian said, is susceptible to pressure.

“The first knock it suffered was at the time of Doklam crisis in 2017. China did not give data then. Technical reasons were cited for not providing the data. But China went ahead in sharing the data with Bangladesh he same year,” said Kurian. She added that the discrepancy that is involved in sharing data in the absence of any institutional mechanism is in fact putting population in the lower riparian at risk.

However, after the Doklam crisis was over, hydrological data sharing with India resumed. During the Siang floods in October last year, China informed India about a landslide on the river in Tibet region that might might burst any time. The information helped the Arunachal Pradesh government to get prepared for the imminent flash floods, which ultimately did not happen, beforehand. Siang, which is known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, becomes the Brahmaputra in Assam.