Previous Year Question
The place where China has started construction of a dam on River Brahmaputra in Nov. 2010 is
Chingdu
Zangmau
Zhuang
Gyangze
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is (b) Zangmau. The name used in the question is now commonly spelt Zangmu.
The Zangmu Hydroelectric Project was constructed on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. The same river enters India as the Siang/Dihang and later becomes known as the Brahmaputra.
In 2011, India's Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that China was constructing a hydroelectric project at Zangmu on the middle reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo. It was described as a Run-of-the-River (RoR) project, designed primarily to generate hydroelectricity from river flow rather than to store a very large volume of water in a reservoir.
The project has an installed capacity of approximately 510 MW. Its generating units were subsequently commissioned in stages, and by October 2015 the Zangmu hydroelectric project had become fully operational.
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river, so upstream hydropower development is also important for India. India and China have therefore maintained an Expert Level Mechanism dealing with flood-season hydrological data and other matters concerning trans-border rivers.