Arunachal MP Tai Tagak flags river monitoring gaps, seeks dam safety review

Rajya Sabha MP Tai Tagak of Arunachal Pradesh has raised concerns over what he called inadequate river monitoring in the state and asked for safety assessments of hydropower projects in the Himalayas against glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

He spoke at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources in New Delhi on Friday, India Today NE reported. The committee is examining the project appraisal framework and accountability mechanisms of the Central Water Commission (CWC), and senior officials of the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the CWC attended.

Monitoring gaps

Tagak said monitoring by the CWC's regional office and the Brahmaputra Board was not adequate and called for systematic, continuous surveillance of rivers, water levels and vulnerable stretches, along with stronger early-warning systems.

He noted that Arunachal Pradesh shares borders with China, Bhutan and Myanmar, and that every district in the state is named after a river, which shows how central rivers are to its geography and livelihoods.

He sought more financial and technical support for the state under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP) for river protection, erosion control and disaster-mitigation infrastructure.

GLOF and dam safety

Tagak pointed to the growing threat of GLOFs to downstream settlements, infrastructure and hydropower projects, and recalled the collapse of the Teesta-III dam in Sikkim in October 2023. He asked that existing and under-construction dams be checked for their vulnerability to such floods.

Citing a Jal Shakti Ministry statement of August 8, 2024, he said the CWC monitors 902 glacial lakes and water bodies in the Himalayan region every year between June and October, and that the ministry had said the design flood of vulnerable dams would be reviewed. The ministry had also said a Rs 150 crore GLOF risk-mitigation project was approved for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Run-of-the-river projects

The MP said run-of-the-river hydropower projects, though they store little or no water, still depend on seasonal flows and need careful assessment of structural safety, hydrological risks and exposure to extreme floods. He called for better coordination between the Jal Shakti Ministry, CWC, Brahmaputra Board, the National Disaster Management Authority and the state government.

Timing

His remarks come as the region tracks a GLOF in neighbouring Bhutan that has put downstream areas of Assam and West Bengal on alert, and amid protests in Arunachal over the proposed 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project.