Suddenly the focus has now directed towards one of the six most important and major rivers of the world, “Brahmputra River†as Indians call it. The word Brahmaputra means “son of Brahma†in Sanskrit. Brahma is the creator. It is the son of creator. That is the only river in India which has a male name and the rest of all the rivers flowing in this sub continent go by female names, such as Ganga, Jamuna, Kaveri, Godavari, Hemavathi, Sindhu, Tapti etc.
The river has religious significance as it originates in the Himalayan mountains at Mount Kailash which is considered as the abode of Hindu God, Lord Shiva and his wife Parvathi. According to ancient religious texts, the abode of Lord Vishnu is called Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Brahma is called Brahamaloka and the abode of Lord Shiva is called Kailash. Mount Kailash is one of the highest mountains in Tibet at 22,022 ft. Many of the religions of India like the Buddhists, the Jains and the Bonpas of Tibet too respect this river with great fervor and devotion.
. Mount Kailash is in western Tibet and the Brahma Putra river passes through China ( Tibet) and then flows for 2900 kms into the sea in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. It originates in the Jima Yangzong glacier near Mount Kailash at the Mansarover of the Himalayas, The river is called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. It then flows east near Mount Kailash in the northern Himalayas about 1700 km. at an average height of 4000 m, and is thus the highest of the major rivers in the world. At its easternmost point in Tibet, the river bends around Mt. Namcha Barwa and forms the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon, which is considered the deepest in the world. The Namcha Barwa bend is one of the wonders of the world and it is that bend which made the river to enter India. As it tumbles from the Himalayan heights towards the plains of the subcontinent, it meanders back on itself, cutting a deep and it is said that it is still unnavigated gorge, until finally turning south it emerges in India It enters in Arunachal Pradesh where it is called Siang and makes a very rapid descend from its original height in Tibet and finally appears in the plains of Assam where it is called Dihang. It flows for about 35 km and is joined by two other major rivers like Dibang and Lohit. From this , the river becomes very wide here and is called Brahmaputra. The Jia Bhoreli joins the river in Sonitpur District. At this joint, the river is known as the Kameng River where it flows from Arunachal Pradesh. The river flows across the entire stretch of Assam. In Assam, it is known as Luit which is the derivative of the old Sanskrit name, ‘Lauhitya’. However the native inhabitants of Assam or the Bodos called the river Bhullam-buthur that means `making a gurgling sound`. This name was later Sanskritized into Brahmaputra. In Assam the river becomes at some places as wide as upto 10 Kms. It is only at Saraighat, the width is reduced to 1 km. The first rail-cum-road bridge across the Brahmaputra was opened to traffic in April 1962 at Saraighat.
The great bend of Namcha Barwa
From Assam, it enters Bangladesh and there one of its main branches is called Jamuna. In Bangladesh, the river flows together with the Ganga and splits into two, the Hoogly and Padma River. When it merges with the Ganges, it forms the world`s largest delta, called the Sunderbans. The Sunderbans is best known for its tigers and mangroves. The river has so many names as it is running in several countries, that is China, Tibet (now part of China), India, and Bangladesh. It is the main life line for North Eastern states in India. Even the countries like Burma, Nepal and Bhutan are dependent on this river as they are the watersheds of this river. The Brahmaputra basin covers 651,334 km2 (WRI), 58% of which lies in India and 20% in China.
This river is also one of the few that is known to have something called a tidal bore. This means that incoming tides form waves that travel up the river against the direction of the current. This is what researchers call a true tidal wave. This makes the Brahmaputra River that much stronger. The Brahmaputra is navigable for most of its length because of its favorable geological properties. The river is prone to disastrous flooding in spring when the Himalayan snows melt. It is also one of the few rivers in the world that is prone to tides.
Why Brahmaputra River which is in the North Eastern part of India has suddenly taken a center stage for discussion among diplomatic and political circle. Till a few years ago, the river water was not exploited either by India or China. Now China’s need for fresh water is growing steeply and ever increasing area of Gobi desert and depletion of water in the Mekong and Yangtze rivers, the Chinese Government has been trying to exploit all it’s natural resources for fulfilling the need of its 1 . 7 billion population. . Water is the most important commodity without which it is impossible to make a living in this planet. It is reported that China has now started erecting dams across the river in the Tibet valley and the perception of the world community is that it is doing so to divert the water of Brahmaputra towards east wards into mainland China. But the Chinese sources and their Government have denied it and have said that they are constructing a dam in Brahmaputra for the first time in order to begin the main construction work on a 510 MW hydropower station project. It says that the river was dammed to help in the construction of the Zangmu Hydropower Station project in the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River in Gyaca County of Lhoka Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region, The station will have six 85-megawatt generating units, which will bring the total installed capacity to 510 megawatts. It will be the first large hydropower station in Tibet and its first unit will be put into operation in 2014, which will greatly alleviate the power shortage in central Tibet, they claimed. The hydropower station is about 325 kms away from the Tibetan capital Lhasa and its average annual generating capacity according to Chinese sources is expected to reach 2.5 billion kilowatt hours. However the Indian people have reacted sharply against this project and have expressed their apprehension and are not willing to accept the version of the Chinese Government in view of the ongoing construction works. But the Indian Government appears to be satisfied with the assurances given by the Chinese and the satellite imagery obtained by it as can be seen from the stand of the Government of India. The Government has said that the Chinese Government have assured that it was not a project designed to divert the water and affect the welfare and availability of water to the countries in the lower reaches.†However, sadly though, India is not utilising the river water for any Hydro – electrical or irrigation projects. No Dams are constructed by India Government across the river. The Authorities constituted by the Government have not taken any keen interest in this direction. India too should start utilising the waters of the river by having hydro-electric or irrigation projects to strengthen it’s case for user by the down stream state when the discussion for utilization of river water arises at the time of dispute..
However it is in the interest of both the nations to be transparent in the matter of utilizing the river water and avoid disagreement lest it should become a source of future conflict as Boutros Boutros Ghali, former U.N. Secretary General said in 1985 that the “next war in the Middle east will be fought over water, not politics†Others such as Ismail Seregeldin, Vice President of the World Bank in 1999 and Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General in 2001 have also said that fresh water may well become a source of conflict in future . Therefore all the three countries involved, that is India, China and Bangla Desh together with Nepal, Bhutan and Burma should join hands and assist each other in the utilization and development of the river water.