Dibang River, also known as Sikang by the

Adi Adi or ADI may refer to: Names and titles * Adi (mythology), an Asura in Hindu faith who appears in the Matsya Purāṇa * Adi (name), a given name in Hebrew and a nickname in other languages * Adi (title), a Fijian title used by females of chi ...

and Talo in Idu, is an upstream tributary river of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

in the Indian state of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

. It originates and flows through the

Mishmi Hills The Mishmi Hills are located at the northeastern tip of India, in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. On the Chinese side, they form the southern parts of Nyingchi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. These hills occur at the junction of No ...

in the (Upper)

Dibang Valley Dibang Valley (Pron:/dɪˈbæŋ/) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh named after the Dibang River or the Talon as the Mishmis call it. It is the least populated district in India and has an area of . History In June 1980, Dibang Valley distri ...

and

Lower Dibang Valley The Lower Dibang Valley district (Pron:/dɪˈbæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It is the tenth least populous district in the country. History In June 1980, the Dibang Valley district ...

districts.R. S. Envirolink Technologies (July 2016)
''Cumulative Impact & Carrying Capacity Study of Dibang Sub Basin on Brahmaputra River Valley.''
Volume I. Prepared for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Accessed on 16 June 2021
Archived
on 16 June 2021.

Course

The Dibang originates near Keya pass on the Indo-Chinese border in the

Upper Dibang Valley district Dibang Valley (Pron:/dɪˈbæŋ/) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh named after the Dibang River or the Talon as the Mishmis call it. It is the least populated district in India and has an area of . History In June 1980, Dibang Valley distr ...

of Arunachal Pradesh. The

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the river within Arunachal Pradesh covers the districts of Upper Dibang Valley and

. The

lie in the upper course of the Dibang which enters the plains at Bomjir, Dambuk etc. Between Bomjir (Nizamghat) and

Sadiya Sadiya is a town in Tinsukia district, Assam. It was the capital of the Chutia Kingdom and after the downfall of the kingdom it became the seat of the ''Sadiya-khowa-Gohain'' of the Ahom kingdom. Extensive remains of buildings and fortificati ...

the Dibang has a steep river gradient and exhibits

braided channel A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers ...

morphology, with its width varying from . It often changes its course, resulting in flooding and destruction of cultivable land and forests along its banks. The Dibang, with a total length of , enters the

River Lohit The Lohit River, also known as the Zayul Chu by the Tibetans and Tellu by the Mishmis, is a river in China and India, which joins the Brahmaputra River in the state of Assam. It is formed in the Zayul County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, ...

north of the Dibru-Saikhowa sanctuary near the Assamese town of Sadiya.

Tributaries

The Sisar, Mathun, Tangon, Dri, Ithun and Emra are the major tributaries of the Dibang. The Dibang is also joined by a number of tributaries such as the Airi, Ilu, Imu, Ahi, Ashu, Epipani and Eze (Deopani) rivers during its course. Most of these rivers join it in the upper course in the hills thus giving it a wide fan shaped catchment region.

Hydro projects

As of 2016 there were 18 hydro-electric projects at different stages of proposal and planning in the Dibang basin. In 2008,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

laid the foundation stone for a 3000 MW dam as part of the Dibang Multipurpose Project the district of Lower Dibang Valley. Seventeen other dams with power potential between 20 and 4500 MW have also been proposed for the Dibang. The proposed Dibang dam, at , on completion would be among the largest dams in India and among the world's tallest gravity dams has since run into opposition from the

, Idu and the Assamese who live downstream of the project. On 18 July 2019, the Prime Minister chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave the greenlight to continue with the Dibang hydropower project. The renewal has been backed by the electricity the project has the capacity to generate, help with flood control in the region and as a control measure against Chinese hydro projects.

References

Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River Rivers of Assam Rivers of Arunachal Pradesh Rivers of India {{coord, 27, 48, N, 95, 35, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki

Course

Tributaries

Hydro projects

See also

References