The Arunachal Pradesh government has warned of flash floods downstream of the Siang River after China informed India that a landslide has blocked a section of the river in the Tibet region, The Times of India reported on Friday.
The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper stream of the Brahmaputra river. It is known as the Siang river once it enters Arunachal Pradesh and the Brahmaputra when it enters Assam.
The East Siang district administration has asked people not to venture near the Siang river and asked them to stay alert. The water level in the Siang river has reduced due to the landslide blocking the flow of water. The landslide has led to the formation of a lake and there are fears of large-scale floods downstream if the lake breaches, reported the Hindustan Times.
“We got a report from the Central Water Commission about the landslide in Tibet,” said Deputy Commissioner of Upper Siang district Duly Kamduk. “The water level in Siang river has gone down by around 2 metres at Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh.”
A statement issued by the East Siang district administration asked people living on the banks of the river in Jarku, Paglek, SS Mission, Jarkong, Banskota, Berung, Jampani, Sigar, Ralling, Borguli, Seram, Kongkul, Namsing, Mer, Gadum not to remove driftwood, tree barks on the banks of the river as these will serve as a natural flood control mechanism, reported Northeast Today.
Meanwhile, in China, over 6,000 people were evacuated after a barrier lake was formed following the landslide in the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet’s Menling County, reported Xinhua. The amount of water in the lake is above 300 million cubic metres.
In August, several people were airlifted from Assam’s Dhemaji district as Siang river got flooded due to heavy rainfall in the Chinese portion.
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