Rising Sun, Troubled Waters
Water grabbing and the Sino-Indian challenges over the Yarlung Tsangpo - Brahmaputra
Beneath the stunning Himalayan mountains at the Chinese-Indian border, in what in British colonial times used to be the North-East Frontier Tract, some of the greatest tensions of the continent unfolds. Here the challenges are many: competitions over water resources, dams with a strong environmental impact, mining and drilling projects, a water diversion plan to channel water to thirstier Chinese regions, a major Tibetan temple located on a disputed border, separatist movements of ethnic groups divided into different states, conflicting cultural beliefs as well as an increasing migration inflow from Bangladesh met by the resistance of a population which massively voted for Modi’s Hindu-nationalist BJP party. One of the most geographically peaceful areas in the world, identified by romantic writers as the mythical Shangri-La, is on the verge of explosion. India's tribal Northeast is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, inhabited by people speaking over hundred different languages and dialects, historically isolated from the rest of India. This remote, landlocked area was neglected for decades by the central government, and poor infrastructure and services still persist. When the Dalai Lama crossed Tawang district in his journey of exile in 1959, there were no roads connecting the major villages of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh, also known as the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’.For decades, India’s central government failed to look after the Northeastern people’s needs. In these neglected areas, different separatist movements tried to obtain independence from the capital New Delhi.
In the last decade, Chinese government saw the possibility of capitalising from this political instability, to extend its influence over the border not only of Tawang Tibetan district, but also of the precious waters of the world’s largest transboundary river: the Yarlung Tsangpo - Brahmaputra river, which flows all over Arunachal Pradesh and the state of Assam. China and India are among the thirstiest countries in the world: China is home to 1,35 billion people, 18% of the world’s population, yet only has 6.7% of the world's water resources. India is home to 1,25 billion people - 17% of the world’s population - and has just 4.3% of the world's water. The Tsangpo has been seen as the waters that could save Chinese rush to world economic primacy, through dam hydroelectric projects, the first of those, the Zangmu dam, was completed in 2010. Other projects are undergoing in Gyatsa, Zhongda, Jiexu and Langzhen. In the Indian medias, the news last year that China is building a tunnel to channel Brahmaputra water to Xinjiang has sparked outrage.
These projects have alarmed India over the possibility of seeing the river’s flow altered and being victim of ‘water grabbing’. India responded with great investments on defence and the development of its own dams. In 2014, China voted against the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, refusing to comply with the evolving international laws which applied to other countries on water sharing issues. China is refusing to cooperate and to share water-flow datas. The resulting dam race is deepening the region instability and could lead to an environmental disaster at the feet of the world’s third-largest ice-pack, in one of the most populated and culturally rich areas of the world, where environmental, social and ethnic issue are all interrelated.
Waters flowing down the Himalayas at Sila pass, next to the Indian-Chinese border, which lies at the world’s third-largest ice-pack.
The border was inked in 1914 by Sir Henry McMahon at the Simla Conference, and became known as the ‘McMahon line’,
but was rejected by the Chinese government.
Indian militaries and their vehicles in Tawang region, protecting the border areas.
These territories were invaded in 1962 by Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army, with the intention of asserting dominance over the area, to assume total control of Tibet. China’s claimed that the NEFT represented “South Tibet” and belonged to China, but withdrew one month later. The aftermath of the conflict led space to a détente, during which China acknowledged India’s control over the region, while continuing claiming the fact that it belonged to China.
The Tibetan temple of Tawang is the second biggest Tibetan monastery after Potala, in Lhasa and the only that currently isn’t under China’s control.
Beijing’s government has claimed this area as Chinese and invaded it in 1962. Tawang monastery is in the basin of the ‘Yarlong Tsangpo-Brahmaputra’ river, which has been a lifeline for the Tibetan civilisation, just like the Yellow river has been the cradle of the Han civilization.
On the ‘Tsangpo’ banks the Tibetan religion and culture have flourished.
Two men looking at a truck which has fallen down the cliff on the road connecting Tawang and Bomdila. The driver died instantly. People in the Northeast Indian states, and especially in Arunachal Pradesh has suffered from the lack of care given by Indian central government. It is only recently that New Delhi developed a plan for renewing infrastructures in the Northeast, fearing China’s penetration into Arunachal Pradesh’s affairs.
Buddhist children of the Monpa tribe inside the buddhist temple of Tawang for the afternoon lesson.
The monastery of Tawang remained uniquely isolated since the post-indipendente Indian leaders were to busy to think and act on the remote North-East.Nowadays, the control of the boarder area of Tawang is considered essential by New Delhi to prevent China’s penetration into Bangladesh, which would give them access to the Bay of Bengal and to avoid China to gain full control over what it consider “Southern Tibet”.
The Ranganadi dam on the Ranganadi river, seen from the road uphill in Yazali, Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Subansiri district. Between 2000 and 2016,Arunachal Pradesh government approved the construction of 153 dams, before realising that it had overextended itself. The Ranganadi is the only one working, built for hydroelectric purposes and opened in 2001 as the first run-of-the-river dam in the North East. Criticism has risen in Assam, after large swathes of land were submerged by water in Lakhimpur district and killed 11 people in 2017. People claims the dam exacerbate the floods every year.
In 2016, monks, nuns and common people protested against the construction of a dam on the Nurawang river, which was meant to produce electricity. Two persons were killed during the protests.
Anti-dam movements in Arunachal Pradesh also managed to block the construction of the Subansiri dam, located some kilometres South-East, where the project is stalled since 2011.
Hotel owner in Yingkiong, Arunachal Pradesh, working on his guest list with a candle, as electricity in this border area only works a few hours per day.
Shortage in electricity is one of the reason why the Indian government are pushing for constructions in the Brahmpatura, despite their negative environmental impact.
The advertising of a cement company displays a man carrying a dam on his arms. On the Yarlung Tsangpo - Brahmaputra is currently unfolding the greatest challenge between India and China, two of the most populous and water-scarce countries in the world. China has dammed the river in 2010, with the Zangmu dam and has recently announced plans to build the world’s largest dam on the border with India on the Brahmaputra River at a place called Mutuo.This dam will have a capacity to generate 38,000 megawatts of electricity, which is more than twice the capacity of Three-Gorges Dam.
A drunk man lying on the ground in Ziro village. Ziro Valley sits at a height of 5600 feet in Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian government has tried to win the resistance of the local people who opposed dam constructions with money, opium and alcohol.
An Apatani woman walking along rise fields canals and channels in Zero Valley. The Apatani tribe's ritual of plugging the nose and tattooing the face of women is a dying tradition, which has not been practiced since 1970. It was historically done to all adult women in a bid to deter tribal raiders. Each time the tribe was attacked, their women would be kidnapped and never seen again. The Apatani are animists following the Donyi Polo religion and believe that every object in nature is sacred.
Arunachal Pradesh is home to a wide range of different ethnic groups. Here, people from the Galo tribe, during the traditional celebration of ‘Mopin’ in April. Women dresses in white and smear rice powder in each other’s faces; marking the start of the festival. It is said that this festival is celebrated to drive away the evil spirits. Galo are followers of Donyi Polo religion and pray to a number of spirits, deities and souls for blessings, but they principally worship the sun (Donyi) and the moon (Polo) as the visible forms of the gods.
Twins being carried by their sisters in Sangti valley, a village nearby Dirang in in Arunachal Pradesh. People in this area deeply resent Chinese’s claims over a territory they considered utterly integrated to the Indian culture and economic system. As claim over Arunachal Pradesh, China is allowing people from the region to enter China without visa, as symbolic gesture to claim the sovereignty over the region.
Women collecting water from a wheel in the outskirts of Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh.
Arunachal Pradesh is one the most water-rich states of India, a country which is reeling under a sustained water crisis that shows no signs of abating. Excessive demand coupled with mismanaged water resources, erratic weather patterns and climate change have led to a sad state of affairs.
A group of friends walking along the Brahmaputra riverbed in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh
A family working with river rocks for constructions in Yinkiong, Arunachal Pradesh
A fisherman in Yinkiong with one of the biggest fish he just got in the Siang river, which becomes Brahmaputra once it reaches Pasighat.
In the last year, the river has become extremely muddy, up to ten inches of sediment has accumulated on some stretches of the riverbed and fishes have been dying, while the State Water Quality Testing Laboratory declared the water is unfit for human consumption. Given the limited information sharing across the India-China border, though, there has been enormous suspicion by Indian politicians of alleged Chinese activities that may have led to the polluting of the river.
People crossing the Brahmaputra at the shores of Majuli, Assam, which once used to be the largest river island in the world
A man is showing an old tablet which was once used for black magic in the village of Mayong, Assam, where it is believed black magic originates. It is believed that in some of these scriptures there are mantras that can make someone absolutely invincible.
Water tanks used for the oil refinery in Guwahati, India, belonging to the Indian Oil Corporation Limited. North East region is one of the major onshore oil producing regions of India, an industry which has contaminated the Brahmaputra’s basin with wastes such as brine, oil-bearing water, the drilling mud, drilling cuttings and various chemicals that are used during drilling and production operations. Consequences of the pollution affects destroy the seed bank, habitats of micro flora and fauna, vegetation, causing alternations of soil and water physico-chemical properties.
Migrants cooking with fire on the banks of the Brahmpatura river in Dibrugarh, Assam, the city name means ‘fort on the banks of the river’. The poorest people are now living on its banks, especially immigrants coming from the poor Indian state of Bihar, but also from the most unwanted migrants from Bangladesh, against which the BJP party of president Modi has made a successful political campaign in 2016, winning the region.
During the days of ‘Bihu’, most important celebration days in Assam for the beginning of the new year, a group of musicians and dancers are going from house to house to perform a little show, asking to some money offer by local people.
A man looking at the Brahmaputra while crossing the river on a bus in Tezpur, Assam. The bridge in Assam is currently the only one in the whole region to cross the river, and most of trucks have to ride for hundreds of kilometres to transport goods from one side to another. Another bridge is currently under construction in Dibrugarh, where the river is about 16km wide. For the people of Assam, the Brahmaputra has a profound religious and spiritual meaning, and it is considered very powerful also for the danger it ignites on the locals, due the strength he gets during the monsoon and the floods.