New Delhi: China will provide India with real time flood data of Sutlej river during monsoon, according to an agreement signed between the two countries.
Under the five year agreement, China will set up a special station in Tibet to monitor rainfall and flood situation to enable India get advanced warnings.
In turn, India will pay Rs 12 lakh per annum to China. The money will be used by Beijing to maintain the station, sources in the government said.
The flood data will be provided twice daily between June and October every year.
“Since we have five to six hydro electric power projects on downstream Sutlej, the data will help us operate the projects in a safer environment,” sources said.
Floods in downstream Sutlej have been creating problems on the Indian side.
In July this year, India had renewed a similar agreement with China to get flood data of Brahmaputra river. The agreement for Brahmaputra was signed in 2004.
Though China had been providing flood data of Sutlej, the agreement will help streamline the system, especially during the monsoon season. New Delhi had been paying Rs 12 lakh per annum to China for data of Brahmaputra.
India provides similar flood warnings to Pakistan and Bangladesh free of cost as a goodwill gesture.
Sutlej is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. Its source is near Lake Rakshas Tal in Tibet near Mount Kailash, and flows generally west and southwest entering India through the Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradesh.
Courtesy: PTI
