Siang river
Overflowing Siang river at Oiranghat along Assam-Arunachal border as seen on Saturday evening. Image: Northeast Now, Representative image

China on Monday said the flood situation in Yarlung Tsangpo river has “returned to normal” after it posed a threat to India’s northeastern states following the formation of an artificial lake created by a landslide in Tibet.

China has also assured about sharing flood data with India.

People living along the banks of Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh were moved to safer places after China informed India about the landslide.

The landslide occurred on October 17, blocking Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet leading to the formation of the lake.

“By October 20, the river section of the barrier lake has returned to normal. We will keep close monitoring of the landslide situation and maintain close communication and cooperation with the Indian side through the existing channels,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.

She said the Chinese hydrological department had informed India about the situation immediately after the landslide and also launched the emergency reporting mechanism.

“Up to October 22, we have provided seven bits of hydrological information and 110 bits of statistics. We also reported the Indian side of the flow of barrier lake,” Hua said, reports The Assam Tribune.

China has resumed sharing of hydrological data on the Brahmaputra from May 15 after a gap of one year.

It had stopped sharing the data with India last year soon after the Doklam standoff, stating that its hydrological stations in Tibet were being upgraded and that the data couldn’t be shared.

Northeast Now is a multi-app based hyper-regional bilingual news portal. Mail us at: contact@nenow.in

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