Arunachal Pradesh has sought the Centre's assistance in combating floods in the state and requested that New Delhi share with it data on Himalayan rivers provided by China.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang said that the data would help tackle flash floods that have devastated the state during the past few years. He also requested the Centre for a special grant of Rs 500 crore to repair infrastructure damaged by floods this year and for the overall economic development of the state. Official sources from Itanagar said that the state government had requested the Centre to supply the river data before the next monsoon season.
Scientists have recorded 5.5 per cent shrinkage of volume in China's 46,298 glaciers, a loss equivalent to more than 3,000 square kilometre of ice, during the past 24 years. The huge volume of water from the melted glaciers, estimated at 587 billion cubic metres since the 1950s, is considered to have been a major factor in the devastating floods in many downstream areas in recent years.