International

China to build ‘Super Dam’ on Chinese side of Brahmaputra River

By Renu Valke
China to build ‘Super Dam’ on Chinese side of Brahmaputra River
The THREE GEORGES DAMN built by China which is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity since 2012. (Source - Yao YilongImaginechina/AP Images)
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Key Points:

  • The new dam’s ability to generate hydropower could be three times that of central China’s Three Gorges Dam, which has the largest installed hydropower capacity in the world.
  • The state media report indicated that the dam could come up in the Medog county of TAR, which is close to Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The news regarding the new dam was published on an official social media platform of the ruling Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Youth League last week.

China is all set to build a Dam on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo (The Chinese name to the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)), reported a state media on Sunday. The move is said to have a huge impact on the North-East India’s Water Security.

The Chairman of the Power Construction Corporation of China, Yan Zhiyong said, “China will implement Hydropower Exploitation in downstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River.” “It is more than a hydropower project. It is also meaningful for the environment, national security, living standards, energy and international cooperation,” Yan added.

The dam could come up in the Mêdog country of TAR that is close to Arunachal Pradesh, 30 km away from the Indian border inside a giant canyon of the Brahmaputra. The project was put forward in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) of China and its long-term goals through 2035 made by the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

It is not the first time that China is building Dams on the Brahmaputra River.

  • It completed the Zangmu dam in 2010, which is a gravity dam and became fully operational from 2015.
  • The Zam hydropower station was operationalized in 2015.
  • The Lalho hydel project was another big blockade of the Brahmaputra river system. (It is the biggest hydel-power station of the world.)
  • Three more dams are presently under construction at Dagu, Jiacha and Jeixu.

The ‘Dam’ news was reported by an Official Social Media platform of CPC Youth League China. The Global Times report said that a Chinese expert told them that dams on cross-border projects cannot be developed without the cooperation between upstream and downstream countries.

Renu Valke

Renu Valke

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