NEW DELHI - THE Indian government, in the face of widespread media reports here about Chinese plans to build dams along the Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet, has said that this could have 'significant impact' on the people living downstream near the Brahmaputra.

The 2,906km-long Yarlung Zangbo and the Brahmaputra are one and the same river, with its first stretch of 1,625km flowing through Tibet, the next 918km in India and the remaining 363km through Bangladesh before it discharges into the Bay of Bengal.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said that although Beijing had 'categorically denied' any such plans, the Indian government would 'ascertain whether there are recent developments that suggest any change in the position conveyed to us'.

Both countries set up an experts committee on trans-border rivers in November 2006 and agreed to establish a joint mechanism to share technical data. But this was restricted to flood-season data.

Any diversion of water into the Brahmaputra would seriously affect the condition of people living downstream, the spokesman said.

India's north-eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have expressed concerns about the reported Chinese move. Said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi: 'Large-scale diversion of water would adversely hit the state's economy and could even lead to environmental problems and affect the surface water table in the north-east.'

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.