Beijing [China], August 9 (ANI): China’s aggressive push to construct the world’s largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo is being viewed as more than just a developmental initiative — it is seen as a strategic tool in Beijing’s intensifying water dominance over South Asia, Borderlens reported.
Formally included in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and approved last December, the dam is now under active construction in Nyingchi City, Tibet, dangerously close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced its launch on July 19, describing it as a cornerstone of the “West-to-East Electricity Transfer Project.” However, beneath the façade of renewable energy lies a calculated geopolitical maneuver.
Strategically positioned just before the river’s “Great Bend,” where it flows into India’s Brahmaputra and Bangladesh’s Jamuna, the project is expected to generate about 300 billion kWh annually — triple the output of the Three Gorges Dam. It involves five cascade dams, a USD 170 billion investment, and potential modifications to the river’s course. According to Borderlens, such control over Tibet’s waters could give Beijing significant leverage in any future conflict with India.
Regional leaders have raised serious concerns. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu warned Borderlens that the project is “a ticking water bomb” with existential risks for local tribes. State Minister Ojing Tasing underscored the urgency: “China has already started… If we do not act now, we may suffer later.”
The dangers are not merely theoretical. Located in a seismically active Himalayan zone, the dam could pose catastrophic risks in the event of an earthquake, potentially triggering massive floods across India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Beyond physical hazards, Beijing’s unilateral control of a transboundary river threatens the water security of hundreds of millions downstream.
Environmentalists and Tibetan rights advocates told Borderlens that the project reflects a long-standing pattern: large-scale, state-backed infrastructure in Tibet often serves both resource extraction and political control. Similar projects in the past have been accompanied by forced relocations, loss of ancestral lands, and erosion of cultural heritage.
(ANI)
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