China, on Friday, downplayed concerns over plans to construct the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet. This $137 billion project was called a “totally safe” project by the foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, who emphasized that its construction would not affect countries downstream. She claimed safety issues have been addressed, “after decades of study,” she said. Mao emphasized that because the mega project is constructed in the sensitive Himalayas, it would not hurt the low-lying parts and assured that China had always handled cross-border rivers responsibility. She said that China would keep its lines of communication open to the downstream countries and expand international cooperation in disaster relief efforts. The dam was approved by China on Wednesday for construction at a major gorge in the Himalayas, where the Brahmaputra River curves into Arunachal Pradesh before entering Bangladesh.
The ambitious project will cost over a trillion yuan and could take at least a decade to complete.
While China intends to tap the hydropower from the river, the impact of the project on the flow of water downstream has raised concerns, especially in India. David Fishman, a senior manager at Lantau Group, pointed out the scale of the project and the concerns of countries downstream. “Everybody downstream is going to be concerned about what it means if water flow is reduced,” he said, acknowledging India’s anxiety over the potential effects.
