Guwahati, Oct. 14: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said the reported move by China operationalising a hydropower station on the Brahmaputra is going to cause irreparable damage to Assam and other parts of the Brahmaputra basin.

In a statement Gogoi said the Assam government has all along been taking up the issue with the Centre of the reported move of China building dams on the Brahmaputra since long.

Gogoi had also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the matter with the Chinese President during the former's visit to China. He said Modi perhaps did not take up the matter seriously, which is of vital importance to the people of Assam and the Northeast.

"I have pleaded with the Prime Minister to take up the issue with the Chinese President during his visit to that country. However, I had serious doubts whether he took up the matter at all," Gogoi said.

The chief minister said the fact that the Centre's casual approach regarding China building dams on the Brahmaputra, is responsible for its failure to persuade China to desist from going ahead with the construction.

"It is an utter failure at the highest diplomatic level to prevail upon China not to go ahead with the construction. What purpose will it serve if the bonhomie and camaraderie generated by talks could not be translated into concrete actions vis-à-vis protecting India's interests?" Gogoi asked.

"If Prime Minister Modi's much-vaunted 'Act East' policy does not act when it matters the most to the people of the Northeast then in whose interests the policy has been rechristened?" he asked.