Brahmputra - Yangtze River Link- Inventor's Examination!!! ©
As per news reports Chinese President, due to visit India shortly, is said to be obsessive about world's most difficult project and environmental catastrophe and by far the costliest in the world in diverting Yarlung Zangbo (Brahamputra) north of Himalaya foothills to Yangtze River further north is very similar to the obsession of Indian president to take Ganga River waters south of Himalayas foothills to down south is identical in natural obstacles and technically, environmentally and economically unviable.
Though we in India prevailed upon the GOI and convinced the Indian President that there is very little surplus water available in the Ganga Basin for transfer to South India. More over Ganga Basin is most fertile in the world that can inexpensively use Ganga waters for food production.
I have not yet found any statement of Chinese government that indicates inclination to undertake this most unviable and unfeasible project. Chinese leadership has engineering background, understands the magnitude difficulties as well as low rewards in this project.
Yarlung Zangbo flows for over 1500 km west to east before curling in sharp U bend to south. The flow in the river as it leaves China is just 140 BCM or under 25% of the Brahamputra Rivers and 14% of Yangtze River.
Two large rivers in Salween and Mekong along with few tributaries flow in between Yangtze Raiver and Brahamputra River. If China decides to divert waters of Yarlung Zangbo then it will also be considering diversion of Mekong and Salween.
But the Chinese government seems to be concerned about the environment. On April 1, 2004 the Chinese premier halted the construction of 13 dams on the Salween in Yunnan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salween_River
In between Yangtze River the largest river in China and Brahmputra (Yarlung Zangbo) lies the most precious "Three Parrallel River Bio-diversity zone" recognised by UNESCO and China government accepts this fact.
Salween and Mekong Rivers form formidable Bio-diversity cum natural obstacle in up to 3,000 meters deep gorges. [The site name relates to the inclusion of sections of the upper reaches of three of the great rivers of Asia -the Yangtze (Jinsha), Mekong (Lancang) and Salween (Nu Jiang). Here the three rivers run roughly parallel, north to south, through steep gorges which in places are 3,000 m deep. At their closest, the three gorges are only 18 and 66 km apart, and for 70 km a fourth parallel river, the Dulong Jiang, flows along the western margin before entering Myanmar as one of the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River system.]
Thus it is impossible to divert waters of Brahamputra (Yarlung Zangbo) in the region adjoing the "Three Rivers Bio-Diversity Zone". Along these rivers are two tributaries of Brahamputra also.
Any project taking of from eastern section of the river would mean very little water available for transfer and secondly diverting through cold northern districts of Tibet that too shall encounter high mountains, freezing conditions and water shall freeze for most of the year.
Even if China succeeds in building it the transfer of 20 BCM to 40 BCM will be just 2% to 4% of Yangtze River gross flow of 1000 BCM, conributing little water to the basin.
This inventor finds no reason for China to consider diversion of Brahamputra. Earlier reports of China considering nuclear bombs blasting mountains too were premature. Blocking many thousand meters deep river gorges could create thousand kilometer long oceans in Tibet and a colossal environmental disaster that shall lose more water to evaporation than diversions in to Yangtze River.
There are colossal power generation options but cold conditions freezing water in turbines could damage the runners or the plants could be operational for few months only.
Thus there is little merit in reports related to diversion of Brahamputra River.
President of China will not be bothered by this mischief and GOI should not take it seriously.
Ravinder Singh October24, 2006
[The Yarlung Zangbo River, an international water system, is located at the Tibet Autonomous Region and a river with the highest altitude in the world. The total length of the Yarlung Zangbo River in China is 2,057 kilometers, ranking the 5th longest river among the famous rivers of China. It has a drainage area of 240,480 square kilometers, and ranks the 6th largest river in China. Its annual runoff volume to foreign country is 140 billion m3, ranking the 3rd largest in China, just next to the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.]
2. SUMMARY OF NATURAL VALUES
The Three Parallel Rivers nomination (1.7 mil.ha. in extent) consists of 15 protected areas in seven geographic clusters in the mountainous northwest of Yunnan Province. The 7 clusters are contained with a larger geographic unit of 3.4 mil. ha. administratively referred to as the Three Parallel Rivers National Park (IUCN Category VI) . The northern and western boundaries of the nomination abut Tibet and Myanmar respectively. The site name relates to the inclusion of sections of the upper reaches of three of the great rivers of Asia -the Yangtze (Jinsha), Mekong (Lancang) and Salween (Nu Jiang). Here the three rivers run roughly parallel, north to south, through steep gorges which in places are 3,000 m deep. At their closest, the three gorges are only 18 and 66 km apart, and for 70 km a fourth parallel river, the Dulong Jiang, flows along the western margin before entering Myanmar as one of the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River system.
The 1.7 million hectare site consists of a large portion of the Hengduan Shan, the major arc of mountains curving into Indochina from the eastern end of the Himalayas. The extent of the site is 310km from north to south (29° to 25° 30' N) and 180km from east to west (98° to 100° 30' E). More than 100 peaks in the Yunling, Gaoligong, Haba, and Baimang ranges are over 5000 m, while the
Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (China) ID Nº1083 Meili Snow Mountains on the Tibetan AR border contain an impressive range of glaciated
peaks over 6000 m. The highest peak is Mt Kawagebo (6740 m), from which the
southernmost glacier in China, Mingyongqia, descends to an altitude of 2700 m.
The nominated area lies within an orogenic belt, where the edge of the Eurasian plate is being compressed by the underlying Indian plate as it is subducted along the line of the Lancang River fault. As the Hengduan Mountains were uplifted and intensely sheared, the pre-existing rivers continued to downcut, resulting in the extreme vertical relief of the mountains and gorges. Four types of igneous rock are evident: ultrabasic, basic, intermediate acid and alkali rock, as well as ophiolites (assemblages of igneous rocks that were once sea floor crust). The
wide range of rock types throughout the site provide ample evidence of marine evolution under the Tethys seas (the shallow sea that existed during the early Mesozoic Era and separated the landmass of Laurasia in the north from Gondwanaland in the south).
The site also contains an outstanding variety of landforms, especially those in the alpine landscapes. There are more than 400 glacial lakes, each surrounded by moraines and other glacial landforms. A variety of spectacular alpine karst features include karst caves, calcareous tuff deposits and alpine karst peak clusters. There are also large areas of granite peaks and sandstone monoliths, the most impressive of the latter being the alpine Danxia landforms (old Tertiary red calcareous sandstone eroded by wind and water). Such varied terrain gives the region great scenic and geological interest.
The climate variety within the site is as outstanding as its topography, varying from subtropical in the valleys to frigid on the snow-covered mountain peaks. In the west, the south-western monsoon from the Indian Ocean brings an annual rainfall of up to 4,600 mm and creates a permanent snow- cover on peaks over 5,000m. The effect of this moist airstream drops off sharply as it moves eastwards, so that, at the other extreme, is in a rain-shadow and receives only 300 mm of rainfall annually. The Pacific Ocean monsoon affects the southeast
of the site less strongly but does create humid, subtropical conditions in the valleys. Persistent fog limits human settlement above 2,500m.
The Three Parallel Rivers site is an epicentre of Chinese biodiversity. The southern part of the Hengduan Shan is considered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to be the foremost of China's 11 terrestrial 'critical regions for biodiversity conservation'. It is also recognized as one of the world's 25 major biodiversity 'hotspots'. The reasons for the region's outstanding biodiversity are fourfold:
· The N-S river valleys have provided a corridor for the movement of biota for a long period. The Hengduan Mountains are a boundary 'mixing zone' for three of the world's major bio- geographical realms --East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Tibetan Plateau. The WWF consider this part of NW Yunnan to lie at the juncture of five of their 'Ecoregions'.
· The remarkable altitudinal gradients within the area, with mountain summits reaching 5000-6500 m while the riverbanks in the gorges below are around 1500-2000 m.
· The monsoonal climate (wet summers) affecting most of the area.
· The ice-free status of most of NW Yunnan during the Pleistocene glaciations, allowing a variety of plants and animals to remain relatively undisturbed in refugia.
The site supports the richest diversity of higher plants in China as well as a remarkable range of fungi and lichens. Over 6000 plant species are listed and distributed within 22 recognised vegetation types, which range from the savannah shrublands of the hot, dry valley floors, through both evergreen and deciduous forests, and a wide variety of coniferous forests, to alpine meadows. These diverse vegetation communities contain over 20% of China's higher plants and 2,700 of the site's plants are endemic to China (distributed within 45 endemic
Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (China) ID Nº1083 genera), while 600 of them are endemic to NW Yunnan; the Three Parallel Rivers Protected Areas contains the type locality for 1,500 of these plants. The history of the site has resulted in marked species differentiation from relict and primitive to highly evolved species, and 8.5% of China's rare and endangered species have been recorded in the area.
The site contains more than 200 species of rhododendrons, over 100 species each for gentians and primulas, and many species of lily and orchid, as well as many of the most noted Chinese endemic ornamental plants: gingko, the dove tree, four species of the blue poppy and two species of Cycas. The site is famous in European plant-collecting history because of the work of the Rev. Jean Marie Delavay, George Forrest, and Frank Kingdon-Ward (among many others) who made these plants known to Western horticulturalists. The diversity of conifers is
outstanding; in addition to dozens of the main mountain forest trees (Abies, Picea, Pinus, Cupressus and Larix), there are many endemic or rare conifers.
There are also around 20 rare and endangered plants which are relict species and survived the Pleistocene glaciations, including the Yunnan yew.
The area is the most outstanding region for animal diversity in China, and likely in the Northern Hemisphere. Two-thirds of the fauna within the nominated site are either endemic, or are of Himalayan-Hengduan Mountain types. The area is believed to support over 25% of China's animal species, many being relict and endangered. Many of China's rare and endangered animals are within the nominated area: 80 are listed in the Red Book of Chinese animals, 20 of which are considered endangered; 79 animals are listed on the CITES 1997 appendices; 57 are listed in the IUCN Red List of the World's Threatened Animals. Being near the boundaries of the East Asian, Southeast Asian and Tibetan biogeographic realms, the site also acts as a corridor where many species from each realm meet and reach their limits of distribution. Most of the rarer and endangered animals lie in the western part of the site, especially the long, narrow Gaoligong Shan border with Myanmar and the Yunling Mountains between the Lancang and Jinsha Rivers.
Approximately 40% of the protected areas in the nominated site are inhabited by some 278,000 people while 36,000 inhabitants reside in the core zones (mostly engaged in subsistence agriculture).
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