China has formally begun building on a USD 167.8 billion dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.
Chinese language Premier Li Qiang introduced the launch throughout a groundbreaking ceremony held on the decrease reaches of the river, recognized regionally because the Yarlung Zangbo in Nyingchi Metropolis, in line with official reviews.
The ceremony happened on the website of the Mainling hydropower station within the Tibet Autonomous Area, as reported by state-run Xinhua information company.
Key issues to know concerning the venture:
- China has formally begun building on what’s being described because the world’s largest infrastructure venture, an enormous hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, near the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.Â
- In response to official Chinese language media, the bold venture will embody 5 cascade hydropower stations, with a complete estimated funding of 1.2 trillion yuan (roughly USD 167.8 billion).
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- As soon as accomplished, the stations are anticipated to generate greater than 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electrical energy yearly, reportedly sufficient to energy over 300 million individuals, making it the most important such effort on the planet, even surpassing China’s Three Gorges Dam.
- The dam is ready to be inbuilt an enormous gorge within the Himalayas, the place the Brahmaputra River, recognized regionally as Yarlung Zangbo, makes a dramatic U-turn earlier than flowing into Arunachal Pradesh after which onward to Bangladesh.
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What does it imply to India?
The venture’s location and scale have provoked robust reactions from India and Bangladesh, each of which rely closely on the uninterrupted circulation of the Brahmaputra for agriculture, consuming water, and ecosystem stability. Issues centre round disruptions to water circulation, blocking of nutrient-rich silt, and potential ecological harm, in addition to the chance that China may use management over the river as strategic leverage.
Issues arose in India because the dam moreover empowering China to regulate the water circulation, the scale and scale of it may additionally allow Beijing to launch massive quantities of water flooding border areas in occasions of hostilities.
India, too, is constructing a dam over the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh.
India and China established the Knowledgeable Degree Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to debate numerous points associated to transboundary rivers, below which China supplies India with hydrological data on the Brahmaputra River and the Sutlej River throughout the flood seasons.
Knowledge sharing of trans-border rivers figured within the talks between India, China’s Particular Representatives (SRs) for the border query, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi, held on December 18 final yr.
The Brahmaputra Dam presents huge engineering challenges because the venture website is situated alongside a tectonic plate boundary the place earthquakes happen. The Tibetan plateau, thought to be the roof of the world, regularly experiences earthquakes as it’s situated over the tectonic plates.
However an official assertion in December final yr sought to allay issues about earthquakes, saying that the hydropower venture is secure and prioritises ecological safety.
By intensive geological explorations and technical developments, a strong basis has been laid for the science-based, safe, and high-quality growth of the venture. It mentioned the Brahmaputra flows throughout the Tibetan Plateau, carving out the deepest canyon on Earth. The dam might be inbuilt one of many rainiest elements.
