Highlights
- Deputy Commissioners of districts along Siang’s path issue flood alerts.
- Heavy discharge of water from China, the highest in 50 years, is threatening to submerge at least 12 villages along the river Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Hydrological experts said the “unusually high” discharge indicates sudden release of water from man-made barriers or a natural dam that was formed due to landslips caused by major earthquakes in the Tibetan region of China in November 2017.
- The unusualness lies in the highest discharge of water in decades.
Assam follows
- Laya Madduri, the Deputy Commissioner of Assam’s Dibrugarh district downstream of Siang, issued a similar alert on Thursday in view of the rise in water levels.
- The situation is grim, and the government needs to come up with effective anti-erosion measures, besides talking to China, for ensuring safety of downstream areas in India.
- Guwahati-based water expert Partha Jyoti Das said agencies such as the Central Water Commission need to closely monitor the level and quality of Siang’s water.
- There is a lot of concern at the international, national and local levels about the geologically and strategically important Siang that impacts Bangladesh too.
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