The governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam directed authorities to “remain alert” for possible flash flood after China informed India about a landslide blocking a section of a Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet leading to the formation of an artificial lake.
The Assam government has directed the authorities in Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts to remain alert and take all possible steps to avert any major calamity.
The Yarlung Tsangpo river is known as the Siang once it enters India at Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet and the same river is called the Brahmaputra once it reaches Assam.
Due to the formation of the lake, water level of the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh has gone down and has also led to fears of large-scale floods if the dam formed by the landslide breaks.
District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA), The district administration and all other departments concerned were asked to remain on alert.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Kolkata and Bhubaneswar were deployed by the centre.
Sources said, the artificial lake at Yarlung Tsangpo had begun spilling over on Friday afternoon resulting in an unprecedented rise in water levels. This huge volume of water is expected to enter India through the Sino-Indian border at Tuting by Saturday afternoon and is projected cause flash floods in the Siang River by Saturday evening.
According to Central Water Commission (CWC), China had shared data on the breach with India, saying that the water will rush downstream at the speed of 80,000 cubic metre/second and may cause major damages.
As per the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, his country has activated the ‘Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism’ with India following the landslide on Wednesday in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu river in Tibet.
“Chinese side informed us on Wednesday about the landslide and creation of an artificial lake. All relevant authorities of the government have been told about the emerging situation to enable them to take necessary precautionary measures,” the Indian official said.
