China begins to build the largest dam in the world, nourishing the fears in India

The Chinese authorities have begun to construct what will be the world’s most in the world’s hydropower dam in Tibetan territory, in a project that has sparked concerns from India and Bangladesh.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Kiang chaired a ceremony marking the start of the construction of the Yarlung Tsangpo River on Saturday, according to local media.

The river flows through the Tibetan Plateau, as well as the two nations in South Asia. The project has attracted criticism for its potential impact on millions of Indians and Bangladesh who live down, as well as the environment and local Tibetans.

Beijing said development would prioritize environmental protection and strengthen the local prosperity.

When it is completed, the $ 12 billion project ($ 1.67 billion; $ 1.25 billion) – also known as the Motuo Hydroelectric Station – will outstrip the Three Courges dam as the most large in the world and can generate three times more energy.

Experts and employees have noted fears that the new dam will allow China to control or divert cross -border Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows south in India, Arunwal Pradesh and Asam, as well as in Bangladesh, where it feeds on the Siang, Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers.

A 2020 report, published by the Lowi Institute, a cerebral trust based in Australia, notes that “control over these rivers (in the Tibetan Plateau) effectively gives China a suffocation to the India economy.”

In an interview with PTI news agency Earlier this month, the chief Minister of Arunwalle Pradesh Pema Handdu expressed concern that Siang and Brahmaputra could “dry significantly” after the dam was over.

He added that the dam “will cause an existential threat to our tribes and livelihoods. It’s quite serious because China could even use it as something like a” water bomb “.

“Suppose the dam was built and they suddenly release water, our entire Siang belt will be destroyed,” he said. “In particular, the Adi tribe and similar groups … will see all their property, land, and especially human life, to endure the pernicious effects.”

In January, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in India said they had expressed concerns about China about the impact of mega-caravans and called on Beijing to “guarantee that the interests of the countries down the chain” were not injured. They had also emphasized “the need for transparency and consultation with the sides down the chain.”

India plans to build a hydropower dam on the Siag River, which will act as a buffer against sudden water liberations from China’s dam and prevent flooding in their areas.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had previously replied to India, saying in 2020 that China had a “legal right” to nail the river and examined the impact down the chain.

Bangladesh also expressed fears to China about the project, with employees sent a letter to Beijing in February, demanding more information about the dam.

The Chinese authorities have long looked at the hydropower potential of the location of the dam in the autonomous region of Tibet.

This is in a massive canyon, which is said to be the deepest and longest in the world’s land, along a section where Yarlung Tsangpo -the longest river of Tibet -makes a sharp turn around Mount Namcha Barva.

In the process of making this turn – which is called the “big turn” – the river falls hundreds of meters into its elevation.

Earlier reports indicate that authorities plan to break through multiple tunnels 20 km long through Mount Namcha Barva, through which they will divert part of the river.

Over the weekend, a Xinhua report on Li Kiang’s visit is said that engineers will “straighten” work and “divert the water through tunnels” to build five cascading power plants.

Xinhua has also announced that the electricity of the hydropower dam will be transmitted mainly outside the region to use elsewhere, while settling for the needs of Tibet.

China looks at the steep valleys and the mighty rivers of the village west – where Tibetan territories are located – for the construction of mega -juniors and hydroelectric stations that can maintain the Eastern metropolys hungry for electricity. President Jinping personally insisted on a policy called “Xidiandongsong” or “Sending Western Electricity to the East”.

The Chinese government and the state media have presented these dams as a profitable solution that reduces pollution and generates clean energy while attracting rural Tibetans.

But activists say the dams are the last example of Tibets’ operation from Beijing and their land – and past protests are crushed.

Last year, the Chinese government rounded hundreds of Tibetans who protested against another hydropower dam. It ended with arrests and beatings, with some people seriously injured, BBC learned through sources and checked staff.

There are also environmental concerns about the flooding of the Tibetan valleys, known for their biodiversity, and the possible dangers of the construction of dams in a region with lines of the earthquake fault.