devastating flood

GUWAHATI: Crippled by three waves of Assam on Wednesday appealed to China to share hydrological data of Brahmaputra river , which flows through Tibet, with India to help state prepare for the oncoming disaster in advance.State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that according to central government, China for “mysterious reasons” has not shared the hydrological data. “We appeal to China to share the data. We are formally writing to central government to continue persuading China to share the data so that we can take early measures in the event of flood,” Sarma said.The two countries have two agreements signed in 2013 and 2015 on sharing of hydrological data of Brahmaputra river during monsoon every year, between May 15 to October 15. The data share by upper riparian state, China, to lower riparian states, India and Bangladesh is essential every monsoon to allow anticipation of the flow of the water and take necessary measures to deal with flooding.He said that when the first two waves came, beginning in April, there were heavy rain but not in the next wave. “When the third wave of flood (from August 10) hit the state there wasn’t abnormally high rainfall neither in Arunachal Pradesh nor in Assam. Where did all the water come from?” he questioned adding that this was a matter that needs to researched, while referring to media reports that China could trigger floods in Assam by releasing water from its numerous dams built across Brahmaputra river which flows in the country as Tsang Po.According to Indian metereological department, Arunachal Pradesh, from whose foot hills the plains of Assam starts, received 13% deficit rainfall while Assam received 4% deficit rainfall between August 1 and August 23. Only Mizoram and Tripura had excess rainfall during this period. Manipur had 57% deficit and Nagaland received a deficit of 33%.Sarma said that Indian media have reported about possible designs of China to trigger floods by releasing the water from its dams. “All these could be speculations but the fact is that China hasn’t shared the data.”The third wave, which is receding, affected more than 34 lakh population and claimed 71 lives besides killing more than 370 animals in Kaziranga National Park . This wave also displaced over four lakh people and forced them to take shelter in relief camps.