Gogoi urges PM to take up Bramhaputra issue with China

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to take up the issue of construction of three new dams in the upstream of the Brahmaputra river with China.

Gogoi, in a letter to the Prime Minster said, though the Chinese government had assured that it would take note of the interest of downstream areas but Assam apprehended that the dams might affect the state.

The entire economy of Assam and the Northeast is dependent on the Brahmaputra river and the construction of three new dams in the upstream of the river might affect the interest of the region in downstream areas, an official release said.

The Prime Minister has already taken up the matter with his Chinese counterpart, while the Assam government took it up with the External Affairs Ministry.