China's Mega Dam Sparks Global Alarm A 'Water Bomb' for India & Bangladesh

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China has started building the world's largest dam in Tibet, raising alarm in India and Bangladesh. Experts warn of environmental disaster, strategic control over rivers, and threats to millions downstream. Could this dam become a weapon? Discover what’s really happening at the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo. 🔔 Subscribe for more geopolitical Shorts! #China #India #Tibet #DamCrisis #Brahmaputra #Geopolitics #Shorts #News

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00:00China begins building world's largest dam, fueling fears in IONDI.

00:04Authorities have begun constructing what would be the world's largest hydropower dam in Tibetan

00:08territory in a project that has sparked concerns from India and Bangladesh.

00:12Chinese Premier Li Kong presided over a ceremony marking the start of construction on the Arling

00:17Sangpo River on Saturday. According to local media, the river flows through the Tibetan

00:22plateau. The project has attracted criticism for its potential impact on millions of Indians

00:26and Bangladeshis living downriver, as well as the surrounding environment and local Tibetans.Beijing

00:31says the scheme, costing an estimated 1.2 TN Yuan, $167 billion, £125 billion, will priorities

00:39ecological protection and boost local prosperity when completed. The project, also known as the

00:44Motuo Hydropower Station, will overtake the Three Gorges Dam as the world's largest and could generate

00:49three times more energy. Experts and officials have flagged concerns that the new dam would empower

00:54China to control or divert the transporter Yarlinks, which flows south into India's

00:58Aranakal Pradesh and the Sam states as well as Bangladesh, where it feeds into the Shang,

01:03Brahmaputra and Jemuna rivers. A 2020 report published by the Lowy Institute, an Australian-based

01:08think tank, noted that control over these rivers in the Tibetan plateau effectively gives China a

01:13chokehold on India's economy. In an interview with news agency PTI earlier this month, Aranakal Pradesh

01:19chief minister at Pemakondu, expressed concern that the Shang and Brahmaputra could dry up

01:23considerably once the dam was completed. He added that the dam was going to cause an existential

01:28threat to our tribes and our livelihoods. It is quite serious because China could even use this

01:33as a sort of water bomb. Suppose the dam is built and they suddenly release water, our entire Shang

01:38belt would be destroyed, he said. In particular, the Adi tribe and similar groups would see all their

01:43property, land, and especially human life, suffer devastating effects. In January, a spokesperson

01:49for India's Ministry of External Affairs said they had expressed concerns to China about the impact

01:54of megadams and had urged Beijing to ensure the interests of downstream states were not harmed.

01:59They had also emphasized a need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries.

02:03India plans to build a hydropower dam on the Xiang River, which would act as a buffer against sudden

02:08water releases from China's dam and prevent flooding in their areas.

02:11China's foreign ministry has previously responded to India, saying in 2020, that China has a

02:16legitimate right to dam the river and has considered downstream impacts.Bangladesh also expressed

02:22concerns to China about the project. With officials in February sending a letter to Beijing requesting

02:26more information on the dam, Chinese authorities have long eyed the hydropower potential of the dam's

02:32location in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Asterisk it's in a massive canyon that is said to be the

02:37world's deepest and longest on land, along a section where the Yarlang Tsungpo, Tibet's longest river,

02:42makes a sharp U-turn around the Namhabar Warmington in the process of making this turn which has been

02:46termed the Great Bend. The river drops hundreds of meters in its elevation. Earlier reports indicated

02:51that authorities planned to drill multiple 20 kilometers long tunnels through the Namhabawa mountain,

02:56via which they would divert part of the river. Over the weekend, a Xinhua report on Lee

03:01Kayang's visit said that engineers would conduct straightening work and divert water through tunnels,

03:05to build five cascading power stations. Xinhua also reported that the hydropower dam's electricity

03:11would be mainly transmitted out of the region to be used elsewhere, while accommodating for Tibet's

03:15needs. China has been eyeing the steep valleys and mighty rivers in the rural west where Tibetan

03:20territories are located, to build megadams and hydropower stations that can sustain the country's

03:24electricity hungry. Easter Metro Popo Lises.President Xi Jinping has personally pushed for this in a

03:30policy called Zidia, for sending western electricity eastwards. The Chinese government and state

03:35media have presented these dams as a win-win solution that cuts pollution and generates clean energy while

03:40uplifting rural Tibetans. But activists say the dams are the latest example of Beijing's exploitation of

03:45Tibetans and their land and past protests have been crushed. Last year, the Chinese government rounded up

03:51hundreds of Tibetans who had been protesting against another hydropower dam.It ended in arrests and

03:56beatings. With some people seriously injured, the BBC learned through sources and verified footage.

04:01There are also environmental concerns over the flooding of Tibetan valleys renowned for their

04:05biodiversity, and the possible dangers of building dams in a region rife with earthquake fault lines.

04:10Source BBC

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