Dibang River, also known as Talo in
Idu,
is an upstream
tributary river of the
Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...
in the Indian state of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
. It originates and flows through the
Mishmi Hills in the (Upper)
Dibang Valley and
Lower Dibang Valley 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 of Arunachal Pradesh. The
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which 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
Lower Dibang Valley.
The
Mishmi Hills lie in the upper course of the Dibang which enters the plains at Bomjir, Dambuk etc.
Between Bomjir (Nizamghat) and
Sadiya the Dibang has a steep river gradient and exhibits
braided channel 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 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 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
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
Adi,
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.
See also
*
Dibang River Bridge
*
Dibang Dam
References
{{coord, 27, 48, N, 95, 35, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki
Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River
Rivers of Assam
Rivers of Arunachal Pradesh