The Siang River has not been unpredictable, unlike other rivers. It had a steady characteristic with water remaining as clear and ice cold. Therefore the sudden changes are creating panic and alarm among the people living on the river banks. Given the limited information sharing from across the border and the secrecy Communist China maintains, there has been enough suspicion of alleged Chinese activities that may have led to the polluting of the river with mud and the present cause for high tidal waves. There is no denying the fact that China has been planning many mega-dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo, the Chinese name for the Brahmaputra. 

There have also been reports that Chinese engineers are testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000 km long tunnel—the world’s longest—to divert water from the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet close to Arunachal Pradesh to the parched Xinjiang region which the Chinese authorities pooh-poohed as media speculation and imagination. At the same time, China has over the years mastered technologies to tame its rogue rivers including the Yellow River known as the Sorrow of China. And the Three Gorges dam is an engineering marvel and a great tourist attraction. Thus if it plans to make a tunnel to divert the water from Siang, it will do it surreptitiously and the world will come to know of it only after an advanced stage. So it is necessary for India to maintain a strict vigil on the Chinese side at the same time taking seriously the problems afflicting Siang River. Better late than never.