Chinese Mega Dam at Yarlung Tsangpo beckons a doomed future for Tibet, Northeast & Himalayas

Novanita Sharma

Regardless of the long standing protests, concerns, and speculations, the People’s Republic of China has officially announced the beginning of the construction of the world’s largest mega dam at the bend of Yarlung Tsangpo in the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau.

The Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced this with an official statement in July 2025. The site of this mega dam is very close to India-Tibet border in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Chinese Mega Dam at Yarlung Tsangpo beckons a doomed future for Tibet, Northeast & Himalayas

The Chinese side defended the launch of the widely debated and most ambitious hydropower project of the communist Chinese government, in one of the most ecologically sensitive, seismically active zones of the Tibetan plateau by pacifying New Delhi and Dhaka with reports that supposedly proves very low or minor impacts on the downstream population and ecology of India and Bangladesh.

According to Beijing, the dam with the capacity to produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually will be operational by 2030, and will meet the power demand of the people in Tibet and rest of China without jeopardizing the water flow and environment of the downstream countries.

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This dam also called as ‘Project of the century’ by the Chinese premier is already accruing dividends to the ailing Chinese economy with prospects of millions of jobs, and a noticeable rising index in the power, construction, engineering, cement manufacturing, and allied Chinese companies recently. The Chinese government has hit the jackpot with the launch of this mega dam on Yarlung Tsangpo which will cost around $170 billion.

The Yarlung Tsangpo flows southwards from Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh, where it enters India, to drain across one of the largest and thicky populated river basins in Asia, dotted with rich natural forests, fertile cultivable lands, and myriad cultures from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam and onwards to Bangladesh. The river is known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam; it is the economic, ecological, and cultural lifeline for millions in the Tsangpo-Siang-Brahmaputra civilization.

The mega dam at the head of Brahmaputra River is a matter of grave concern for the people of Northeast India, especially for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, because this hydropower project is part of communist China’s water war strategy against the riparian Northeastern states of India. The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu aptly called the mega dam located at just 50kms from the Indian border as ‘ticking water bomb’. Communist China will strategically control hydrological war against Indian Northeastern states with this massive dam in the head of Brahmaputra River.

The People’s Republic of China and India are not signatories to the 1992 UNECE Water Convention (also known as the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes). This puts the Indian side in a difficult position, wherein India can neither accuse communist China over violation of transboundary water law, or assert its demands over flow of the river from the Tibetan plateau. In such condition, the exploitation of Tibetan rivers like Yarlung Tsangpo by communist China raises serious humanitarian and ecological threats to the downstream people in India.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun’s assurance regarding no major riparian impacts on downstream regions, and that China has cooperated with downstream countries by sharing hydrological data, flood prevention, and disaster alleviation remains questionable in the light of the communist Chinese regime’s policy of considering matters related to rivers even in the forcefully occupied territory of Tibet as purely their sovereign issue.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson further stated that the development of the project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River is a matter of China’s sovereignty, which clearly echoes the forceful rule of communist China over the natural resources of Tibet by subjugating the rights and voice of Tibetans over the resources of their motherland. The Yarlung Tsangpo is an important river for Tibetans from ecological, historical, and spiritual angles; communist China has no sovereign power over Tibet and the Tibetan rivers.

The Yarlung Tsangpo valley is the fertile basin of Tibet, it is connected with the spiritual heritage of Tibetan culture, and is home to the richest forested areas of the Tibetan plateau. The Metok (Medog) region of Tibet, where this giant dam is getting built, harbours the richest biodiversity rich forests in Tibet. Some areas within this verdant Metok county has been fiercely protected by Tibetan people from outsiders even years after the Chinese annexation of Tibet. Also known as the ‘Lotus holy land’, Tibetans consider this as the holy Pemako land, a sacred land blessed by Guru Padmasambhava which has been a site of pilgrimage for the followers of Tibetan Buddhism.

With no reliable data regarding the forest cover, flora, fauna, vegetation, and total area under the forest cover of this Tibetan region available in the hands of the Tibetans and the global scientific community, the building of this mega dam by communist China is nothing less than catastrophe for the unchartered Tibetan forests of the Metok county. The destruction of these rare Himalayan forests will have irreversible ecological impacts on the fragile Tibetan ecology and may have wider impacts on the biodiversity of nearby areas in the Eastern Himalayas.

The Tibetan voice should have reverberated across global platforms demanding communist China to withdraw from building of this mega dam at the bend of Yarlung Tsangpo which will cause unprecedented damage to Tibetan forests, biodiversity, and will have irreparable impacts on Tibet’s ecology. The Tibetans can draw everyone’s attention on the religious violations under the Chinese regime which is geared up to annihilate the holy Pemako Land of Metok county with this mega dam.

Moreover, this is the time when the Tibetan and Indian environment activists, and environment workers from around the world must come together to stop this mega dam to save one of the most pristine and rare Himalayan ecosystems from vanishing from the face of earth. The destruction of Tibetan forests in the Metok county for the mega dam will greatly impact the natural environment of Tibet, which is also considered the third pole of our planet. The construction of this mega dam is an environment issue, but it would not catch the world attention until and unless the Tibetans raise their concerns on the issue.

It is of no use staging campaigns and events regarding climate change impacts on the Tibetan plateau, unless we fight for the protection of Tibetan forests, wildlife, rivers, grasslands, glaciers, and the natural ecosystem of Tibet. Our campaigns will remain feeble until we get correct data, and information on the Tibetan natural forests, and wildlife habitats because we cannot rely on the doctored information made accessible by the Chinese controlled sources.

Soumyadeep Datta, a renowned environmentalist from India raised this issue in one of his interviews in 2024, he said “We all know that Tibetan ecology is devastated but we do not have the requisite scientific data to ascertain these fears of ours. It is time we demand the communist Chinese government to release information on the forest cover, flora, fauna, rivers, glaciers, and land use pattern inside Tibet. All environment workers ought to raise their voice against the exploitation of Himalayan rivers in Tibet by communist China. Everyone can begin with lending support to the ‘Save Tsangpo-Siang-Brahmaputra’ campaign of Free Tibet – a voice from Assam. “

‘Free Tibet, a voice from Assam’ is a people’s forum from Northeast India that raised the ‘Save Tsangpo – Siang – Brahmaputra’ campaign, perhaps the first river conservation campaign for the safety of the Tsangpo – Siang – Brahmaputra River basin. The forum raised a civil society movement amongst the people of Assam which supports the Tibetan freedom movement, the forum strongly believes that Tibet must be freed from the forceful occupation of Chinese rule for the Tibetan people, and not just for the sake of India’s strategic security or for the benefit of any other country of this world.

Likewise, the Tibetans are the only custodians of the rivers, forests, glaciers, minerals, and all the natural resources of the Tibetan plateau and hence, communist China’s claims over the Tibetan rivers and the damming of Tibetan rivers accounts to gravest water crimes of the world.

The upcoming mega dam at the bend of Yarlung Tsangpo epitomize the deepening insecurity and uncertainties amidst the communist Chinese leadership, the construction of the world’s most expensive hydropower project by communist Chinese government reflects their helplessness in recovering the ailing post-covid national economy of China. It also establishes the strategic move of Chinese government to exert greater control over Tibet and Asia through water wars and possible expansion of territory in Indian Himalayas beyond the Tibetan plateau.

Mere assurances from the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun who said that China is following highest industrial standards in protecting ecological environment in an all-around way in the planning, design, and construction of hydropower project in the lower reaches of Yarlung Tsangpo, and that in future China will not withdraw or use any water from the project is far from convincing and acceptable.

The communist Chinese government has been one of the foremost violators of all environment laws at national and international levels, China is the biggest carbon emitting country in Asia and the world with its rising carbon emission over the decades because of indiscriminate industrialization. Chinese claim of mitigating climate crisis with this mega dam is an inconceivable idea for all. Tibetans and Indians are not new to the Chinese plots, we are still paying for our foolish romance with the delusional Hindi-Chini bhai bhai diplomacy in the past, let us not fall prey to Chinese ploy in the current water diplomacy tactics of communist China.

The political and diplomatic ties between India and the People’s Republic of China should not influence the Indian and Tibetan movements for the future of the Yarlung Tsangpo – Siang – Brahmaputra River basin, likewise the people’s movement and campaigns for the future of the Tsangpo – Siang – Brahmaputra civilization and the civil society movement for freedom of Tibet must carry on with full vigour and enthusiasm amongst the Indian and Tibetan people irrespective of the erratic Sino-Indian diplomatic dynamics.

India has been the greatest supporter of the Tibetan struggle for self determination and cultural resilience since 1959, and Indian people have stood with the Tibetans in their freedom movement since the very beginning. Tibetans and Indians must ring the alarm bell against the construction of the monstrous mega dam at the bend of Yarlung Tsangpo to save the future of Tibet, Northeast India, and the Himalayan ecology from unseen devastation.

( The author is an environment activist and writer from Assam. novanita21@yahoo.co.in)

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