Authorities in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh have issued a warning alert due to the continuous massive discharge in the Tsangpo river in China after a heavy rainfall in the neighboring country.

The river Tsangpo originates in China and the same one is called as Siang after it crosses the border into India through Upper Siang district and then combines with two other rivers of India, Lohit, and Diband, to form the Brahmaputra.

On Wednesday, the deputy commissioner of East Siang issued a circular asking people living near the river on both sides to be alert, but not to get panicked.

The administration also issued a directive for the residents not to venture into the river for the purpose of swimming, fishing, and other activities.

The circular cites the report sent by Beijing to New Delhi saying “due to heavy rainfall in Chinese portion, the Tsangpo river is swelling with an observed discharge of 9020 cumec” at 8 am on Wednesday alone.

The discharge rate is said to be the highest ever in the river for the past 50 years. As per the figures are given by Central Water Commission, the quantity of discharge in the Tsangpo 15 days earlier, on August 14, was 8070 cumec.

Cumec or cubic meters per second is a unit to measure the flow of water in rivers. For example, a discharge of 9020 cumecs would be equal to that of 9.02 million liters of water flow in the Tsangpo per second.

“We have issued the circular as an advisory so that people are careful. But there is no reason to panic at the moment. We are in touch with officials in Upper Siang district and monitoring the flow of Siang,” Tatak told HT.

As the flow of the river was fluctuating since the past two weeks “with unusual waves” the East Siang district officials had issued another advisory last week asking people to refrain from entering the Siang river.

“Such big waves had never been seen on the Siang. The volume of water flow is the same, but the river has become turbulent. Maybe it’s the result of heavy landslides in China affecting the flow of the river or an impact of some major construction activity,” Tatak said.

For several months, the river Siang had been in the headlines after the clear waters of the river turned turbid. As per the observation made since October, the water of the river had become somewhat blackish due to the presence of a large amount of clay and soil.

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