BLOG
India-Nepal Border Plagued By Water Troubles
May 2nd, 2017
Via Third Pole.net, a look at the challenges of sharing the water of a transboundary river even when the countries involved have an open border: The Pandai is a small river that marks the international border for a short stretch between the Chitwan National Park in Nepal and the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in India. In […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Tibet’s Waters for Xinjiang – Another Diversion of the Brahmaputra?
March 22nd, 2017
Via Claude Arpi, commentary on another potential plan for diverting the headwaters of the Yalung Tsangpo river: I often mentioned on this blog, the different ‘diversion’ schemes, whether of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) or the Indus River. Now, a new one has come to light. According to an official Chinese website, during the ‘Two Sessions’, […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Strategic Implications of China’s Dam Building Spree In Tibet
October 25th, 2016
Via India’s Institute for Defense Studies, interesting commentary on the strategic implications for India of China’s dam building activities in Tibet: Recent reports have pointed to China blocking the Xiabuqu tributary of the Yarlung Zangpo River (Tibetan name for Brahmaputra) for a dam project. The 195-km long Xiabuqu originates at Bainang and joins the Brahmaputra […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Yangtze Headwaters Under Threat
September 19th, 2016
Via China Water Risk, a sobering look at the threat faced by the Yangtze headwaters where models show as much as 67% of China’s glacier volume may disappear by 2100: The glaciers of the “Yangtze River Source Region” (YRSR) are in the “most sensitive area to global warming” atop the Tibetan Plateau, according to a study led by the Institute […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China Invests Heavily In Tibetan Water Projects
April 21st, 2016
Via India’s Economic Times, a look at increased Chinese investment in water infrastructure in Tibet: China has invested nearly $3.5 billion in water conservancy infrastructure in the past five years in Tibet, where it is also building a series of dams over Himalayan rivers like the Brahmaputra raising concerns of water shortage in lower-riparian states like India and […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Xinjiang Bans Glacier Tourism
March 29th, 2016
Via the Asia Society’s China File, a report on the recent decision by China’s Xinjiang government to ban glacier tourism: The Xinjiang government has banned tourists from glaciers under the 13th Five-Year Plan in order to try and save the far northwestern province’s fast-disappearing ice caps. Home to China’s largest glaciers, the Xinjiang province has seen its […]
Read more »