China starts construction of world’s biggest hydropower dam in Tibet

The task connected a stream that runs done Tibet and India downstream could dwarf the Three Gorges Dam erstwhile completed.

China has started gathering a mega-dam connected the Yarlung Zangbo River successful Tibet, which could go the world’s largest root of hydroelectric powerfulness erstwhile completed, according to Chinese officials.

The mega-project successful the foothills of the Himalayas volition see 5 hydropower stations connected the river, which is besides known arsenic the Brahmaputra, further downstream successful India, and the Jamuna River successful Bangladesh.

China’s Xinhua authorities quality bureau reported that Premier Li Qiang attended a commencement ceremonial for the dam connected Saturday.

Beijing had planned the task for several years, and support was fixed successful December past year, linking the improvement to the country’s c neutrality targets and economical goals successful the Tibet region.

“The energy generated volition beryllium chiefly transmitted to different regions for consumption, portion besides gathering section powerfulness needs successful Tibet,” Xinhua reported aft the groundbreaking ceremonial successful southeastern Tibet’s metropolis of Nyingchi.

The task is expected to outgo an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.1bn), Xinhua said.

India said successful January that it had raised concerns with China astir the project, saying it would “monitor and instrumentality indispensable measures to support our interests”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said astatine the clip that China “has been urged to guarantee that the interests of the downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities successful upstream areas”.

In December, Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the task would not person immoderate “negative impact” downstream, adding that China “will besides support connection with countries astatine the little reaches” of the river.

China annexed Tibet successful 1950, and has built respective dams connected the region’s rivers, prompting concerns from Tibetans astir the imaginable impacts connected the unsocial ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau.

Tibet’s vast glaciers and large rivers supply caller h2o to 1.3 cardinal radical successful 10 countries, according to Yale’s E360 biology magazine.

The Yarlung Tsangpo is the world’s highest river, reaching immoderate 5,000 metres (16,404 feet) supra oversea level, and is considered sacred to Tibetans.

The Three Gorges Dam connected the Yangtze River successful Yichang, Hubei province, China [File Stringer/Reuters]

The caller dam is besides being built conscionable 30km (18 miles) from China’s immense borderline with India, overmuch of which is disputed, with tens of thousands of soldiers posted connected either side.

Once built, the dam could supply arsenic overmuch arsenic 3 times arsenic overmuch vigor arsenic the Three Gorges Dam connected the Yangtze River successful cardinal China.

The Three Gorges Dam, which was completed successful 2003, controversially displaced immoderate 1.4 cardinal people.

Tibet is overmuch much sparsely populated, with immoderate 2,000 radical displaced for the operation of the Yagen Hydropower Station successful 2015, according to section media reports.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies