India now has to pay for Brahmaputra flood data

NEW DELHI: The crucial flood data of Brahmaputra river being shared by China with India will no longer come for free.

India will now have to make payments for receiving the data that helps it prepare in advance for floods as the two countries recently signed a fresh five-year MoU.

Under the MoU, China will provide India the hydrological information, including water level, discharge and rainfall from its three stations located at Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia from June 1 to October 15 every year.

The details will enable India to improve flood forecasting and timely warning for mitigation measures.

The data was being given to India for free from 2002 but China now wants payment for the information it would send between 2008 and 2012, sources in the Union Water Resources Ministry told PTI.

"After a fresh bilateral understanding, we will have to provide a token amount to it to maintain the staff and equipment at the monitoring stations located in inhospitable terrains," the sources said, adding modalities would be worked out later.

New Delhi had first entered into a MoU with Beijing for sharing of hydrological information on downstream Brahmaputra river in flood season by China in 2002.

The Brahmaputra originates in south-west Tibet as Yarlung Tsangpo. It is also called Yarlung Zangbo in China.